Cold Weather Payment 2025 scheme opens

The Cold Weather Payment scheme for 2025 opens in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in November 2025, according to a benefit changes timetable published by Turn2us, an independent charity, and last reviewed on 23 December 2025¹.

The same timetable records that, in Scotland, the new Pension Age Winter Heating Payment is expected to be launched in November 2025, replacing the Winter Fuel Payment¹. In December 2025, the Winter Heating Payment 2025/26 is expected to be paid to eligible households in Scotland¹.

The timetable sets out other changes across the year. In March 2025, Welfare Supplementary Payments in Northern Ireland were extended until 31 March 2025, and pensioners in Northern Ireland who did not get the Winter Heating Payment were to receive a one-off £100 fuel support payment by 31 March¹. The deadline to claim the 2024/25 Winter Fuel Payment was 31 March 2025, and the Household Support Fund ended on 31 March 2025¹.

In April 2025, social security benefits rose by 1.7%, the Carer's Allowance earnings threshold increased from £151 to £196, and the National Minimum Wage rose by 6%, to £12.21 an hour for people aged 21 and over, £10.00 for 18- to 20-year-olds and £6.40 for apprentices and those under 18¹. The New and Basic State Pensions and the Minimum Guarantee element of Pension Credit rose by 4.1%¹.

The timetable also lists devolved changes. In Scotland, people getting Attendance Allowance began to be automatically transferred to Pension Age Disability Payment in January 2025; the benefit was available in 13 more local authority areas from 24 March and throughout Scotland from 22 April 2025¹. The transfer of people from Carer's Allowance to Carer's Support Payment was expected to be complete in March 2025, and the transfer of people getting Disability Living Allowance to Adult Disability Payment and Scottish Adult DLA was expected to begin¹.

Why it matters for households

The Cold Weather Payment is a payment made when the temperature in an area falls to a set level over a set period, and the timetable gives November 2025 as the point at which the 2025 scheme opens in England, Wales and Northern Ireland¹. Households in Scotland are covered by a different arrangement: the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment is expected to launch there in November 2025, replacing the Winter Fuel Payment, with the Winter Heating Payment 2025/26 expected to be paid to eligible households in December 2025¹.

The timetable also records changes that affect household income during 2025. Benefits rose by 1.7% in April 2025, while the New and Basic State Pensions and the Minimum Guarantee element of Pension Credit rose by 4.1%¹. The Carer's Allowance earnings threshold rose from £151 to £196, meaning carers could earn more before the benefit was affected¹. The National Minimum Wage rose by 6% in April 2025¹.

In Northern Ireland, Welfare Supplementary Payments were extended only until 31 March 2025, and the one-off £100 fuel support payment for pensioners who did not get the Winter Heating Payment was due by 31 March¹. The Household Support Fund ended on 31 March 2025¹. The timetable does not state what replaced these payments after those dates.

What happens next

The timetable lists further dates. In September 2025, legacy benefits were ending, with all managed migration notices expected to be sent by the end of September 2025, and working parents of children under five became entitled to 30 hours of free childcare per week from September 2025¹. In autumn 2025 the Government was to start a review of Personal Independence Payment assessments, called the Timm's Review, expected to finish by autumn 2026¹. The timetable does not give a closing date for the 2025 Cold Weather Payment scheme.