Heating will not be an option for almost three million low-paid workers in Europe this winter with energy prices having already rocketed.

That’s according to a new study by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which suggests nearly 15% of Europe’s working poor won’t be able to turn on the heating.

That is equivalent to 2,713,578 people across Europe.

With the looming risk that the energy market crisis could plunge even more workers into energy poverty, the research finds that Cyprus, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Portugal and Greece are the five countries having the highest percentage of workers who can not afford heating.

ETUC Deputy General Secretary Esther Lynch said: “There are millions of low-paid workers in Europe who have to choose between heating their home or feeding their family properly or paying the rent despite working full time.

“That is unacceptable and defeats the whole point of a minimum wage. Unfortunately, rising energy prices mean even more people face returning from a long day or night’s work to a cold home this winter and their children doing their homework in the cold.”