MILLIONS of low-income households cannot afford to heat their homes, with 2.5 million going without food and heating as freezing temperatures sweep Britain, a damning new report has found.

Analysis by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) yesterday found that some 710,000 households are unable to heed the advice of the UK Health and Security Agency for vulnerable people to warm their homes to at least 18°C, wear extra layers and eat hot food to protect themselves.

A fifth of all low-income households are going without food and heating, with 4.3m people having already curbed their spending on heating even before the cold spell hit.