Britain faces gas supply crisis as storage runs dry

LONDON (REUTERS) - Britain is grappling with a potential gas supply crisis as a late blast of winter depletes stored reserves, coal power plants close and pending maintenance in Norway threatens to further squeeze supply.

The country risks running out of stored gas by April 8 based on the fall in its reserves seen since the cold hit at the beginning of March, Reuters calculations show. Gas storage sites have been depleted by 90 per cent, with the equivalent of less than two days' consumption remaining, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe shows.

If the cold persists then, the UK may need to cut gas supplies to some big industrial customers, as it did in 2010 at a time of severe gas shortages.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said it was monitoring the situation closely.