Almost nine in 10 UK adults (88%) are worried about the rise in energy prices after the announcement of Ofgem’s latest price cap, a survey suggests.

Nearly half (45%) say they will not be able to cope financially when the price cap increases to £3,549 from October 1, the poll by Opinium found.

To mitigate rising costs, almost two in five (37%) have already cut back spending on food and groceries – up from 28% since March.

The amount of people who are cutting how much they are saving to help with energy costs has increased to 29% from 17% across the same period.

Numbers of people reducing their energy use have risen from 51% to 56% – possibly suggesting householders are struggling to make further savings – while those skipping meals is up from 13% to 19%.

Alexa Nightingale, head of financial services research at Opinium, said: “As we head into autumn, and with energy usage likely to increase in people’s homes, it’s startling to see how many people have said they won’t be able to cope financially when prices go up next month.

“The £66 monthly discount applied from October as part of the Government’s Energy Bills Rebate may not be enough for many families, who are already cutting back on essentials such as food and staring down the barrel of not being able to afford their mortgage or rent payments.”

Opinium surveyed 2,000 UK adults online between August 26 and 29.