The day after an arctic blast of air hit Britain, plunging temperatures below freezing and blanketing the country in frost, a 72-year-old man finally got through to the advice phone line of Warm and Well, a charitable service in Gloucestershire, in the west of England.The man, whose name was not disclosed, said he had been calling for days and leaving voice mail messages with the nonprofit, which provides advice and emergency funds for people struggling to pay their energy bills.Teresa Hewitt, the energy adviser who answered his call, could only commiserate. “We are absolutely overwhelmed at the moment,” she told him. She was one of seven staff members answering the phones that day in early December who were attempting …
