'Excess' Winter Deaths Highest For 15 Years

That represented a rise of 151% on the previous winter and the biggest annual jump in more than 40 years, figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed.

Most of those who died in 2014/15 were aged 75 or over, with underlying respiratory illness accounting for more than a third of the deaths.

The term "excess" means the extra number of people who died over the winter period, defined as between December and March compared with those who died during the rest of the year.

As in other years, more women died during the period than men, with female deaths rising from 10,250 in 2013/14 to 25,500 in 2014/15 compared with a rise from 7,210 to 18,400 for men.

Part of this was put down to the fact that there are more older women than older men in the population. 

There was also a record high at 9,100 extra deaths from people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's.

The ONS said the rise might be "related to the greater vulnerability of people with these conditions to respiratory diseases, difficulties with self-care, and falls, all of which may be more important in winter months".

More people died over the period in the South West while the lowest figure was for Yorkshire and The Humber, and Wales.

Energy firms last year raised prices for gas and electricity despite a fall in wholesale prices.

Sophie Neuburg, Friends Of The Earth fuel poverty campaigner, said: "These are appalling figures that ministers cannot ignore.

"The Government's refusal to invest properly in home insulation shows a callous disregard for the thousands of people who die each year because they can't afford to heat their homes.

"A large-scale, publicly-funded energy efficiency programme is urgently needed to create jobs, cut emissions and save the lives of some of the UK's most vulnerable people."