'Shameful' Snowiest place feels chill of Labour's fuel payment cuts

"It's a bit fresh, isn't it?" says Ken Cook, a retired headteacher, as an icy wind blasts into the valley from up the hill.

- Robyn Vinter

It might be lunchtime on a sunny day, but one of the many thermometers in Cook's front lawn reads -9C - not unsurprising since he lives in the village of Copley, near Bishop Auckland in County Durham, where many will lose their winter fuel payments.

Durham, which is known as the snowiest place in England with an average of 53 snow days a year.

"There hasn't been as much snow as usual for the time of year, but there has been some," he says.

By some, he means 6cm, which fell on Tuesday this week and still rests on the grass, as temperatures have remained too low to melt it.

Cook is an expert in the local weather, having been a volunteer for the Met Office for 53 years.

Alongside his neat rows of sprouts and cartoonishly large carrots, his garden contains a complete weather station, with whirring instruments gathering a range of data, including sunlight hours, windspeeds, precipitation and both air and ground temperatures.

Copley may be a beautiful village with spectacular views, but the readings from these gadgets indicate it would be challenging to live for someone who could not afford their energy bills.