How much power the country is using

National demand met by the transmission system, published every five minutes. It rises through the morning, peaks in the early evening, and falls away overnight.

Demand now

26,628MW

26,628.0 higher than yesterday

At 01:40 · +464 MW in the last hour

24-hour peak

35,273MW

Reached at 18:55

24-hour low

23,674MW

Reached at 04:25

Swing across the day

11,599MW

Difference between peak and low

Demand over the last 24 hours

Megawatts drawn from the transmission system, sampled every five minutes.

View as table

Time	Demand (MW)
01:40	25,475
01:45	25,385
01:50	25,446
01:55	25,600
02:00	25,847
02:05	25,763
02:10	25,617
02:15	25,585
02:20	25,681
02:25	25,724
02:30	25,768
02:35	25,736
02:40	25,720
02:45	25,665
02:50	25,605
02:55	25,426
03:00	24,986
03:05	24,817
03:10	24,761
03:15	24,788
03:20	24,771
03:25	24,766
03:30	24,674
03:35	24,599
03:40	24,548
03:45	24,495
03:50	24,472
03:55	24,368
04:00	23,996
04:05	24,072
04:10	24,055
04:15	23,978
04:20	23,779
04:25	23,674
04:30	24,246
04:35	24,584
04:40	24,617
04:45	24,679
04:50	24,841
04:55	25,195
05:00	25,201
05:05	25,289
05:10	25,311
05:15	25,387
05:20	25,451
05:25	25,468
05:30	25,636
05:35	25,855
05:40	25,981
05:45	26,159
05:50	26,372
05:55	26,530
06:00	27,034
06:05	27,540
06:10	27,854
06:15	28,070
06:20	28,425
06:25	28,770
06:30	29,205
06:35	29,430
06:40	29,781
06:45	30,119
06:50	30,578
06:55	30,669
07:00	30,432
07:05	30,594
07:10	30,789
07:15	31,047
07:20	31,211
07:25	31,366
07:30	31,598
07:35	31,859
07:40	31,973
07:45	32,083
07:50	32,146
07:55	31,360
08:00	31,405
08:05	31,837
08:10	31,835
08:15	31,879
08:20	31,833
08:25	31,773
08:30	31,782
08:35	31,714
08:40	31,651
08:45	31,697
08:50	31,637
08:55	31,868
09:00	32,162
09:05	32,374
09:10	32,280
09:15	32,203
09:20	32,130
09:25	32,088
09:30	32,008
09:35	31,969
09:40	31,758
09:45	31,530
09:50	31,552
09:55	31,552
10:00	31,646
10:05	31,601
10:10	31,514
10:15	31,467
10:20	31,387
10:25	31,334
10:30	31,315
10:35	31,323
10:40	31,356
10:45	31,260
10:50	31,224
10:55	31,180
11:00	31,387
11:05	31,397
11:10	31,154
11:15	31,183
11:20	31,360
11:25	31,425
11:30	31,655
11:35	31,528
11:40	31,209
11:45	31,036
11:50	31,159
11:55	31,047
12:00	31,286
12:05	31,397
12:10	31,332
12:15	31,247
12:20	31,381
12:25	31,564
12:30	31,548
12:35	31,391
12:40	31,397
12:45	31,364
12:50	31,287
12:55	31,279
13:00	31,161
13:05	31,230
13:10	31,137
13:15	31,009
13:20	30,922
13:25	30,951
13:30	30,889
13:35	30,800
13:40	30,856
13:45	30,925
13:50	31,047
13:55	31,013
14:00	30,424
14:05	30,227
14:10	30,163
14:15	30,163
14:20	29,986
14:25	29,960
14:30	30,232
14:35	30,143
14:40	30,215
14:45	30,464
14:50	30,732
14:55	30,524
15:00	29,859
15:05	29,764
15:10	29,809
15:15	29,931
15:20	30,062
15:25	30,263
15:30	30,560
15:35	30,717
15:40	30,856
15:45	31,138
15:50	31,221
15:55	31,190
16:00	31,150
16:05	31,048
16:10	31,260
16:15	31,415
16:20	31,291
16:25	31,395
16:30	31,812
16:35	32,332
16:40	32,441
16:45	32,480
16:50	32,668
16:55	32,725
17:00	32,809
17:05	33,212
17:10	33,523
17:15	33,742
17:20	33,858
17:25	34,106
17:30	34,505
17:35	34,535
17:40	34,562
17:45	34,495
17:50	34,543
17:55	34,493
18:00	34,433
18:05	34,582
18:10	34,589
18:15	34,595
18:20	34,728
18:25	34,820
18:30	34,847
18:35	34,944
18:40	35,006
18:45	35,155
18:50	35,203
18:55	35,273
19:00	35,211
19:05	35,096
19:10	35,057
19:15	34,990
19:20	34,939
19:25	34,800
19:30	34,580
19:35	34,380
19:40	34,331
19:45	34,196
19:50	34,180
19:55	34,107
20:00	33,923
20:05	33,905
20:10	33,762
20:15	33,414
20:20	33,201
20:25	33,009
20:30	33,067
20:35	33,070
20:40	32,938
20:45	32,870
20:50	32,784
20:55	32,528
21:00	32,155
21:05	32,331
21:10	32,130
21:15	31,803
21:20	31,580
21:25	31,405
21:30	30,763
21:35	30,513
21:40	30,289
21:45	30,075
21:50	29,812
21:55	29,716
22:00	30,040
22:05	30,142
22:10	29,893
22:15	29,549
22:20	29,279
22:25	29,168
22:30	28,958
22:35	28,630
22:40	28,350
22:45	28,161
22:50	27,938
22:55	27,420
23:00	26,817
23:05	27,126
23:10	26,982
23:15	26,872
23:20	26,773
23:25	26,644
23:30	26,312
23:35	26,223
23:40	25,971
23:45	25,827
23:50	25,695
23:55	25,651
00:00	26,133
00:05	26,162
00:10	26,179
00:15	26,103
00:20	26,014
00:25	25,978
00:30	26,198
00:35	26,214
00:40	26,164
00:45	26,286
00:50	26,284
00:55	26,282
01:00	26,538
01:05	26,646
01:10	26,640
01:15	26,568
01:20	26,554
01:25	26,512
01:30	26,569
01:35	26,616
01:40	26,628

What this means

This is the electricity Great Britain draws from the transmission system, measured in megawatts. One megawatt is roughly enough for a few hundred homes at once, so the numbers here run into the tens of thousands.

The shape repeats daily: a trough in the small hours, a climb as the country wakes, and a peak in the early evening when people get home, cook, and turn the lights on. Weather moves the whole curve - today is 2.2°C warmer than the seasonal average, which pushes demand down.

It counts demand met by large power stations and interconnectors only. Electricity generated and used behind the meter - rooftop solar, most notably - reduces this figure rather than adding to it, which is why sunny afternoons can look deceptively quiet.

Updated at 01:47. This page keeps itself current.