Further to the above, the S. Tel reports that despite a number of UK industries being shut down over the Christmas period, supplies were still interrupted to large consumers as the result of the recent cold snap. The ST added, that despite the claims by Labour Ministers that the UK was "awash with gas" this was proved not to be the case and pointed to a failure of adequate storage capacity. This in turn raised the question of what would the situation be IF industries were working normally in the midst of a longer and colder winter period, not to mention any supply shortages from the EU?