Households put on alert for £25 payments over Christmas

Households might be set for a cold weather cash boost, with chillier climes on their way from next week. Forecasters are predicting blankets of snow will settle across parts of England, Wales, and Scotland in December.

The snow might even appear just in time for Christmas Day itself. According to the Met Office's extended forecast from Wednesday, December 18 to Friday, December 27, we're looking at average temperatures for this period, but with a frosty mix of "milder and colder interludes at times."

They've said that snow will "most likely be restricted to high ground, although it could temporarily fall at lower levels in the north during any colder interludes".

WXCharts.com data hints towards a white covering, too, forecasting between 1cm and 5cm of the white stuff for northern Blighty and the Land of the Red Dragon, while Scotland's northwest could see up to 22cm on Christmas Day. Those same charts have the mercury dipping as low as -5C in the north.

While we're not quite there yet, here is a heads-up to households: keep your woollies handy, and you might just snag an extra £25 Cold Weather Payment if Jack Frost decides to really settle in. That's the warm-hearted government payout due when the temps plummet to 0C or below for a solid week straight.

Households will be given £25 for each consecutive seven-day period of extremely cold weather. Cold Weather Payments are only made between November 1 and March 31.

The payment is means-tested, meaning households must qualify to receive it. Those eligible are individuals already receiving certain benefits including Pension Credit, Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit and support for Mortgage Interest.

Cold Weather Payments are automatically paid and recipients don't need to apply. The payments are deposited into the same bank account where other benefits are received.