Gas prices in Europe are increasing because lower temperatures are expected this weekend.

Dutch wholesale gas prices and British wholesale gasoline prices rose on Wednesday morning due to forecasts of colder weather for the upcoming weekend and week ahead.

Data from LSEG indicates that the benchmark Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub climbed by 0.78 euros to 28.80 euros per Megawatt Hour (MWh) as of 0901 GMT.

The Dutch contract for March saw an increase of 0.74 euros, reaching 28.51 euros per MWh.

Meanwhile, the British gas day-ahead price rose by 2.08 pence to 77.80 per therm.

LSEG reports that temperatures in north-west Europe and Britain are expected to rise over the next few days but will drop again by the weekend and into the following week.

The local distribution zone's heating demand in North-West Europe is anticipated to decrease by 447 gigawatt-hours per day (GWh/d) for the day ahead, but will rise by 221 GWh/d, reaching 5,436 and 5,728 respectively, for the weekend and working days next week.

Power demand is expected to drop in the coming days before increasing over the weekend and into next week.

The supply of liquefied gas from Norway and the United States remains strong, with UK's LNG exports exceeding 100 million cubic meters per day over the past two days.

Prices dropped on Monday as investors took profits, but rose on Tuesday as some funds began to buy again.

Analysts at Engie EnergyScan noted that as prices approach their "daily technical highs," there may be a decision to start selling.

The benchmark contract on European carbon markets increased by 0.20 euros to 88.30 euros per metric ton.