How many days of gas does the UK have?
At the end of gas day 12 October 2026, Britain's storage sites held 12.3 TWh, as measured by National Gas. That is 10 days of Britain's average demand over the past seven days (1.2 TWh a day). Storage was filling over the past seven days, by a net 217 GWh a day. At the average net withdrawal of the winters 2021/22 to 2025/26 from 1 November to 31 March, 66 GWh a day, it would last 188 days.
These are days of cover: how long the gas in storage would last on its own. Gas from the UK North Sea, pipelines from Norway and LNG supply most of what Britain burns in winter, so neither figure is a countdown to running out.
Source: National Gas Transmission Data Portal. Stock measured at all nine sites.
Why the UK has a few days of gas and months of it at once
Days of demand divide the gas in storage by everything Britain burns in a day, as if storage were the only source. Britain holds little storage for the size of its demand, so the figure is small: a few days in winter, fewer on the coldest day. That is the arithmetic behind "two days of gas" headlines.
The runway divides the same gas by what storage actually gives up, net of refilling. On most days that is a small share of supply, because the North Sea, pipelines from Norway and LNG deliver the bulk of Britain's gas as it is used, and British stores are refilled between cold spells. So the runway is long.
Neither number means the UK is about to run out. The first says storage alone could not carry Britain for long; the second says storage is not being asked to. What would matter is a long cold spell arriving while imports are short, which is when a small store leaves less room to cover the gap.
| Measure | 12 October 2026 | Same date, 2025 | Average, 2021 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas in storage | 12.3 TWh | 13.0 TWh | 20.1 TWh |
| Britain's demand, past seven days | 1.2 TWh a day | n/a | n/a |
| Days of demand | 10 days | n/a | n/a |
| Net storage flow, past seven days | filling 217 GWh a day | filling 140 GWh a day | |
| Days at storage's past-week pace | filling | filling | |
| At the pace of the winters 2021/22 to 2025/26, 66 GWh a day | 188 days | 198 days | 307 days |
The pace of the winters 2021/22 to 2025/26: the average net storage withdrawal of those winters from 1 November to 31 March. Demand: gas taken off the national transmission system for local distribution (homes and businesses), power stations and industry, seven-day average; exports and storage injection are left out, and Northern Ireland is supplied through the Moffat export. A week of demand that ends more than two days before the stock's gas day is not shown. Averages need at least three years. Source: National Gas Transmission Data Portal.
British gas in storage, 1 September to 30 April
The numbers behind the chart
| Winter | 1 November | 12 October | Lowest | Lowest on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026/27 | ahead | 12.3 TWh | so far | in progress |
| 2025/26 | 15.0 TWh | 13.0 TWh | 4.3 TWh | 20 February 2026 |
| 2024/25 | 28.3 TWh | 26.1 TWh | 7.7 TWh | 19 February 2025 |
| 2023/24 | 27.6 TWh | 25.9 TWh | 10.8 TWh | 20 March 2024 |
| 2022/23 | 20.4 TWh | 18.9 TWh | 9.5 TWh | 11 March 2023 |
| 2021/22 | 17.4 TWh | 16.7 TWh | 8.2 TWh | 13 April 2022 |
Source: National Gas Transmission Data Portal: Storage, Daily Aggregated Stock level, the sum of the nine sites, dated to the gas day each opening stock closes. Days the screen refuses as corrupt at source are left as gaps. The published history starts in September 2021, so the chart shows five winters and cannot show 2017/18. Rough stored no gas from 2017 until October 2022 and paused storage again in 2025 (Centrica), which moves the winter totals.
Britain's nine storage sites
| Site | Range | In storage | Capacity | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stublach | medium-range | 4.1 TWh | 4.4 TWh | 33% |
| Hornsea | medium-range | 2.6 TWh | 3.4 TWh | 21% |
| Aldbrough | medium-range | 2.1 TWh | 3.2 TWh | 17% |
| Holford | medium-range | 2.0 TWh | 2.6 TWh | 16% |
| Hatfield Moor | medium-range | 0.7 TWh | 1.3 TWh | 6% |
| Humbly Grove | medium-range | 0.4 TWh | 3.1 TWh | 3% |
| Hill Top Farm | medium-range | 0.3 TWh | 0.6 TWh | 2% |
| Holehouse Farm | medium-range | 0.2 TWh | 0.2 TWh | 1% |
| Rough | long-range | 0.0 TWh | 16.6 TWh | 0% |
Opening stock of each site for the gas day after 12 October 2026, which is the stock at the end of 12 October 2026. Capacity is the stock plus the space National Gas publishes as still available. Medium-range sites cycle gas in and out within weeks; Rough is Britain's only long-range store. Source: National Gas Transmission Data Portal.
What happened to UK gas storage
Rough, off the Yorkshire coast, was Britain's largest gas store. In June 2017 Centrica stopped storing gas there after finding it could not safely return to injection. It reopened in October 2022 with space for up to 30 bcf, about a fifth of its former capacity, and doubled that to 54 bcf in 2023. Centrica paused storage in 2025 because seasonal prices no longer covered the cost, and in its July 2026 results said storage remained paused and that it does not currently intend to seek an extension of Rough's production consent, which expires in April 2027.
With Rough paused, Britain relies on medium-range stores built to cycle gas quickly rather than to hold it for a season. The government's gas security consultation of November 2025 put Britain's storage capacity, Rough included, at 35 TWh, around 13 days of average winter demand.
Questions people ask about the UK's gas
How many days of gas does the UK have left?
At the end of gas day 12 October 2026, Britain's storage sites held 12.3 TWh, as measured by National Gas. That is 10 days of Britain's average demand over the past seven days (1.2 TWh a day). Storage was filling over the past seven days, by a net 217 GWh a day. At the average net withdrawal of the winters 2021/22 to 2025/26 from 1 November to 31 March, 66 GWh a day, it would last 188 days. These are days of cover: how long the gas in storage would last on its own. Gas from the UK North Sea, pipelines from Norway and LNG supply most of what Britain burns in winter, so neither figure is a countdown to running out.
Does the UK only have two days of gas?
Only if storage were Britain's only source of gas, which it is not. Divide the 12.3 TWh in store at the end of gas day 12 October 2026 by last winter's highest daily demand, 4.1 TWh a day on 5 January 2026, and it covers 3 days. That arithmetic is where "two days of gas" headlines come from; a Guardian report of 8 March 2026 said Great Britain had "only two days of gas stored", with 6,999 GWh in store by National Gas's figures. Britain holds little storage for the size of its demand: the government puts its capacity, Rough included, at 35 TWh, around 13 days of average winter demand. Most of the gas it burns each day arrives the same day, from the North Sea, Norway and LNG, so a short days-of-demand figure is not a countdown to running out. The Guardian, 8 March 2026
What happened to UK gas storage (Rough)?
Rough, off the Yorkshire coast, was Britain's largest gas store. Centrica stopped storing gas there in 2017 after finding it could not safely inject and store, reopened it in October 2022 with space for up to 30 bcf, about a fifth of its former capacity, and doubled that to 54 bcf in 2023. It paused storage again in 2025 because seasonal prices no longer covered the cost, and in July 2026 said storage remained paused and that it does not currently intend to seek an extension of Rough's production consent, which expires in April 2027. National Gas's figures show Rough holding 0.0 TWh at the end of gas day 12 October 2026.
Is the UK running out of gas?
No figure on this page says so. Storage is a small part of Britain's supply: on most winter days the North Sea, pipelines from Norway and LNG deliver the bulk of the gas and storage covers the peaks. At the end of gas day 12 October 2026 Britain's stores held 12.3 TWh, 10 days of the past week's demand. What would matter is a long cold spell arriving while LNG is scarce, which is when low storage leaves less room to cover the gap.
Where does this UK data come from?
National Gas Transmission's data portal, which publishes each storage site's opening stock and the gas taken off the national transmission system every gas day. Storage here is the sum of Britain's nine storage sites as National Gas measures them, not GIE AGSI+, whose UK series is an estimate over part of British storage. Demand is the gas taken off the system for homes and businesses, power stations and industry; exports and gas injected into storage are left out.
Free to reproduce with credit
Journalists, analysts and researchers may reproduce any figure on this page with a credit to Voltstack and a link to this page. The storage and demand data are National Gas Transmission's, credited as "Source: National Gas Transmission Data Portal". Suggested citation, with today's figures:
At the end of gas day 12 October 2026, Britain's storage sites held 12.3 TWh, as measured by National Gas. That is 10 days of Britain's average demand over the past seven days (1.2 TWh a day). Storage was filling over the past seven days, by a net 217 GWh a day. At the average net withdrawal of the winters 2021/22 to 2025/26 from 1 November to 31 March, 66 GWh a day, it would last 188 days. Source: Voltstack, Days of Gas (https://voltstack.energy/days-of-gas/uk), from National Gas Transmission data.
How the days are worked out
- Stock. National Gas's daily aggregated stock level, which equals the sum of the nine sites' opening stocks. The figure published for a gas day opens it, so it is dated here to the day before, the day it closes, which is how GIE AGSI+ dates stocks on the Europe and Germany pages. Some published days are corrupt at source, with blank zeros or jumps no store can make; they are refused and left out, never filled.
- Days of demand. Stock divided by Britain's average demand over the newest seven complete gas days: local distribution, power stations and industry, without exports or storage injection. National Gas posts a day's figures as zero until they settle, so a day counts only when all three parts are in, and a week that ends more than two days before the stock's gas day is not shown.
- Past-week pace. Stock divided by the fall in storage over the past seven gas days, per day, shown only while storage is being drawn down within a year.
- The pace of the winters 2021/22 to 2025/26. The average net withdrawal of those winters over the part of the withdrawal season still ahead of this date. National Gas's published history begins in 2021, so the pace reaches back no further than the 2021/22 winter.
No prices are used or shown. GIE AGSI+ carries an estimated UK series over part of British storage, which this page does not use.
Days of cover are an arithmetic view of storage, not a forecast of supply or a warning of shortage. Produced by Voltstack for information only; not investment advice. Storage and demand data: Source: National Gas Transmission Data Portal. Corrections to research@voltstack.energy.