Winter fuel allowance payments to British expats have shot up, with UK official figures showing that a total of 139,000 Brits abroad received the benefit last year.
Just two years before, the figure stood at just under 75,000.
The total amount paid out in 2013-14 was £21.7m, a new record figure. This compares to £13m for 2011-12.
The greatest increases in claims came from expats in Spain, France, Cyprus and Greece. Recipients in Spain jumped to 49,900 from 33,800 in two years, while numbers in France reached 29,500 from 18,200.
There are now 8,200 expat recipients in Cyprus and a further 2,100 in Greece.
The annual payment can be worth up to £300 per household, but in most cases is lower.
To save money, the British government has decided to grant the winter benefit to expats in countries where the average winter temperature was as low as or lower than the warmest part of the UK.
This is scheduled to come into effect from next year, although it has yet to be approved by MPs.
The publicity around this government cut is likely to be a major factor behind the growth in the number of claims.
And although the number in receipt has gone up to 139,000, this is but a small proportion of those who are eligible. Government officials calculate that 456,000 people living in the European Economic Area and Switzerland would have been eligible in 2012-13.
