UK GAS-Prices slip on milder weather forecasts

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Prompt natural gas prices in Britain eased on Friday as rising temperatures were expected to weigh on demand in the coming days.

Meteorologists expect temperatures to rise above seasonal norms to above 10 degrees Celsius over the coming week.

Gas prices for within-day delivery were down 0.6 percent at 48.30 pence per therm at 0938 GMT.

National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) data showed the system was expected to be around 10 million cubic metres (mcm) short, with supply flows at around 252 mcm and demand forecast at around 262 mcm.

Centrica (LSE: CNA.L - news) 's decision to limit storage capacity at Britain's largest gas storage site, Rough, for up to six months, is expected to support a wider spread between the summer and winter contracts, traders and analysts said.

"They have confirmed they cannot inject as much in summer, which means there will be less demand in summer and more demand in winter," an analyst said.

Centrica confirmed on Thursday it would cap the amount of stock in the Rough reservoir at between 29 terawatt-hours and 32 TWh.

Prices for summer delivery were down 0.3 percent at 46.15 pence per therm.

In the Netherlands, the day-ahead gas price at the TTF hub was down 0.7 percent at 22.05 euros per megawatt-hour, while prices from April onwards were firm.

The benchmark European Union carbon price was down 0.4 percent to 6.96 euros per tonne on ICE Futures Europe. (Reporting by Sarah McFarlane; Editing by William Hardy)