More than a million British households are expected to be paid today for cutting back their electricity today.

Twenty-six energy suppliers are taking part in the Demand Flexibility Service, a scheme that rewards customers for switching off their appliances and saving energy at peak times.

It will be the first time the scheme goes live after a series of trials in the past couple of months.

Britain’s electricity system operator explained that this happens as it expects “tight supply margins” as the cold snap bites.

An ESO spokesperson said: “Our forecasts show electricity supply margins are expected to be tighter than normal on Monday evening.

“We have instructed coal-fired units to be available to increase electricity supplies should it be needed tomorrow evening. We are also activating a live Demand Flexibility Service event between 5-6pm today.

“This does not mean electricity supplies are at risk and people should not be worried. These are precautionary measures to maintain the buffer of spare capacity we need.”