Money expert Martin Lewis is warning people to fix their energy bills now as the conflict in the Middle East is set to see prices rocket.

Martin Lewis took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to flag the latest in the rapidly developing situation between Iran, the US and the rest of the Middle East and the expected knock-on effect on gas and electricity prices.

Martin told his followers ‘don’t dawdle’ if you’re planning to fix, because firms are putting energy prices up today.

Right now, you can still get a fix for 14% less than the price cap, but it’s not going to last, Martin warned.

He said: “Planning to imminently FIX your energy bill? Don’t dawdle. Firms are repricing upwards today & tomorrow on back of Iran. Cheapest still 14% under Price Cap but I doubt for long (it may rebound, but in v short term they’re up).”

Martin then pointed to a spike in gas prices which is set to push bills up, especially on new fixed rate tariffs. He added: “The spike in the gas price (a prime driver of UK electricity prices) due to the Iran conflict is substantial in the context of the last six months, but as the second image shows it isn’t a Ukraine war type spike.

“In the short term its primary consumer energy bill impact will be to push up the price of new fixed rate energy tariffs. How much it impacts the (July onward) Price Cap is a function of how long it spikes for. If it’s short it will be minimal, if it’s longer then its likely to drive prices up from July.

“The other immediate domestic energy concern is the cost of domestic heating oil which has risen sharply.”

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The Ofgem energy price cap is still going to reduce by £117 for an average dual fuel household from April 1, and the recent conflict in Iran won’t change that. But as Martin points out, fixed deals which currently undercut the price cap are set to go up in price from now.