England and Scotland's World Cup group games will spark a huge increase in electricity use.

The National Energy System Operator (Neso) predicts each of England and Scotland's games could see nationwide electricity use soar by 600 megawatts.

That is equivalent to the total electricity demand for Leeds and Glasgow combined.

Demand is forecast to rise at half and full-time from fans opening fridges or putting kettles on. But Neso system operations director Craig Dyke said engineers would 'work round the clock to balance supply and demand'.

Scotland's games in the US kick off late at night for UK viewers, the first at 2am, when electricity use is usually low in Britain.

And more energy-efficient TVs mean Britain could use 20 per cent less electricity to watch matches than in 1998 when Scotland were last in a World Cup.

But total electricity use could soar by 60 per cent, compared with the last tournament in 2022.

The 2026 World Cup will be larger than previous tournaments, featuring 104 matches, 48 teams and lasting more than five weeks across venues in the United States, Canada and Mexico. 

Craig Dyke said the tournament has 'more games than ever before', making a surge in electricity demand across the longer competition likely.

Mr Dyke said watching this year's World Cup would 'almost certainly be powered by the cleanest electricity in history'.

He said engineers would be working around the clock to balance supply and demand using energy forecasting tools and technologies, including batteries and pumped hydro storage.