Scotland is heading for a "humanitarian disaster" as energy bills are expected to soar to two-and-a-half times their current levels next year tipping many households into severe debt after months of rising costs.

New figures show Scots have already had to typically find an extra £230 a month since the turn of the year - after spiralling rises in the cost of fuel, food and mortgages.

Now there are warnings that without urgent action the country will be facing a huge crisis amid warnings that excess deaths are set to spiral to record levels even with a mild winter.

Energy Action Scotland, the only national campaign organisation set up to end fuel poverty in Scotland issued a grave warning that outside the Covid pandemic, the nation faces the most number of excess deaths this winter if government does not do more to tackle the cost of living crisis.

It comes as the bleakest analysis yet predicts that annual energy bills - based on the number of gas and electricity units a typical customer uses - could exceed £5000 in the Spring of next year as pressure mounts on the government to urgently intervene to provide emergency relief for households bracing for a winter crisis.

Energy consultants Auxilione says energy market regulator Ofgem could be forced to set the energy bills price cap at £5,038 per year for the average household in the three months beginning next April.

It is more than £200 higher than previous forecasts, which were already grim.

Auxilione predicted that the annual bill cap set by would reach £4,467 in January - nearly £2500 more than the current level.

It also warned that taking into account higher energy usage in winter and standing charges, they estimate that a typical UK bill in January will hit £571 a month.

In May, the Government announced an energy costs support package – worth £400 per household – in response to predictions that the bills cap would peak at £2,800-a-year for the average household in October.

Auxilione and other analysts are predicting the bills cap will be around £800 more than that. Energy Action Scotland say that pre-pandemic, around 800 people died directly because of fuel poverty and that the amount of support was not enough to prevent a "catastrophe" this winter.

The Herald:

And Frazer Scott, chief executive of Energy Action Scotland warned: "It if fair to say we are facing a humanitarian disaster, which we understand the cause of and know the cure for. "We know what we have to do, but just now we haven't seen the political will."

Nicola Sturgeon has said the energy price cap rise should not go ahead, as she accused the UK Government of being “missing in action” on the issue.

The First Minister said many families will be facing destitution in the coming months as a result of soaring bills, saying the scale of the UK Government response should match that of the Covid pandemic.

The Scottish Government’s resilience committee led by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon which met yesterday to discuss further support for households called for the scrapping of the price cap and pledged an emergency budget review to assess "any and all opportunities to redirect additional resources to those most in need, reduce the burdens on business and stimulate the Scottish economy".

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who chaired the committee said the emergency budget may be of a different nature to the Covid-19 pandemic but “of a similar scale”.

“It is clear that the UK currently faces a rapidly escalating emergency that goes beyond simply the cost of living and is now a more general cost-of-everything crisis,” Ms Sturgeon said.

“In the absence of substantial and urgent action, this emergency will cause acute deprivation and suffering … bluntly, it will cost lives.”

The committee, which will meet weekly, said it would urgently consider all options within devolved powers to limit increases in costs and protect those most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson appealed to electricity bosses to help ease the pressure on hard-pressed families as representatives of major electricity companies who were in Downing Street for crisis talks failed to produce any immediate concrete help.

The outgoing Prime Minister was instead reduced to urging the companies to act “in the national interest” in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which has caused the price of oil and gas to soar.

 “Countries around the world are feeling the impact of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s damaging war in Ukraine," he said.

“We know that this will be a difficult winter for people across the UK, which is why we are doing everything we can to support them and must continue to do so.

“Following our meeting today, we will keep urging the electricity sector to continue working on ways we can ease the cost-of-living pressures and to invest further and faster in British energy security.

“We are continuing to roll out Government support over the coming months, including the second £324 instalment of the cost-of-living payment for vulnerable households, extra help for pensioners and those with disabilities, and the £400 energy bills discount for all households.”