Households and businesses across Britain will be paid once more later today to use less electricity.

National Grid ESO rolled out its Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) for the first time live yesterday, aiming to reduce the strain on the UK’s grid as a cold snap continues to bring blistering weather to the UK.

The electricity system operator said it was looking for bids from suppliers to help save up to 341MW of power between 4.30pm and 6pm on Tuesday.

Customers are asked to switch off their appliances and avoid using energy during these hours – they could receive about £3 for every kWh saved.

The service was used for the first time live on Monday afternoon between 5pm and 6pm.

In a statement, the ESO said: “As part of cautious measures to ensure we continue to have adequate operational reserves tomorrow evening, the ESO has activated the DFS for Tuesday evening between 4.30pm-6pm.

“We have taken this decision as we currently see a similar operational picture to the one available on Sunday. The use of these additional services is not an indication that electricity supplies are at risk, but we require greater options to manage the network as normal.

“Alongside the live DFS event on Tuesday evening, we have now instructed 3/5 winter contingency contract coal units to warm for availability tomorrow if required.”