The Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia writes that Europe's gas storages may be empty at the beginning of next February.

The 160 gas storage facilities distributed across 18 countries and currently filled to almost 83% are enough to cover only 21% of annual consumption in EU member states, the publication said.

The article notes that the challenge for European politicians is to make it through the winter with current gas reserves.

If both the union and neighboring countries with which it shares a supply network, such as Britain, Switzerland and the Balkans, fail to reduce gas demand by at least 10 percent, European storage could be empty in early February 2023, the paper reported, citing analytical data.

Experts predicted that the most optimistic scenario would work with a 15% reduction in gas consumption, but experts are not confident that this will be achieved.