Gas supplies from Russia to Europe plummeted overnight with four countries reporting a complete halt as the dispute between Moscow and Ukraine over payment rates dramatically worsened.

Kiev said that Gazprom, the Russian state gas company, had cut the flow by 60 per cent following Vladimir Putin’s threat yesterday to punish Ukraine for allegedly stealing fuel it is supposed to allow to transit through its pipelines en route to Europe.

The Bulgarian Government called a crisis meeting at 7am this morning and appealed to all consumers to limit their usage as the gas stopped flowing at around 3.30am on the coldest night of the year, as it did to Greece, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

"We are in a crisis situation," the Bulgarian economy ministry said in a statement, with temperatures set to fall further this week and consumer demand forecast to rise.

Austria said that supplies were down to just 10 per cent of the expected amount while Hungary said that the flow was below 20 per cent of usual rates and the Czech Republic reported shortfalls.

All of the countries which rely on gas from Russia delivered through Ukrainian pipelines have built up substantial reserves for the winter following a similar dispute over payments in 2006.

But that was over in a matter of days whereas the present row seems far from being resolved. It began on New Year’s Day when Gazprom began subtracting Kiev’s share of the gas it pumps through Ukraine to Europe.

Ukraine’s gas company Naftogaz, which denies siphoning off any gas illegally, is now warning that supplies to Germany will also suffer as the impact of the dispute spreads.

A European Union delegation is in Kiev to discuss the crisis with senior Ukrainian officials and hopes to meet Gazprom officials later today.

Valentin Zemlyansky, a spokesman for Naftogaz, warned ahead of the meetings that Europe would face problems due to the Russian cuts.

“They have reduced deliveries to 92 million cubic metres per 24 hours compared to the promised 221 million cubic metres, without explanation. We do not understand how we will deliver gas to Europe,” Mr Zemlyansky said.

“This means that in a few hours problems with supplies to Europe will begin,” he added.

In Sofia, the Bulgarian ministry for the economy and energy said that gas supplies for several southeast European countries and Turkey had halted overnight and that it would convene an emergency meeting.

“Deliveries of natural gas at the Bulgarian-Romanian frontier for Bulgargaz, destined for the Bulgarian market and for onward transit towards Greece, Turkey and Macedonia, were stopped at 3:30am,” a statement said.

Gazprom has said that the company would do its best to make up for the shortfalls by sending more gas to Europe through Belarus, Poland and Turkey.

The EU depends on Russia for around a quarter of its total gas supplies, 80 per cent of which are pumped through Ukraine.

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