Wintry weather drove stocks “dangerously low”, experts say.

The narrow escape from a frozen Britain has raised concerns over increasing reliance on foreign gas.

The alarm was raised last night by the Crown Estate, which manages vast undersea gas caverns.

It said the country was just hours from “interruptions to supply” in March.

Rob Hastings, energy and infrastructure director at the Crown Estate, said: “We really only had six hours’ worth left. If it had run any lower it would have meant interruptions to supply…the gas supply is dangerously low.”