UK’s biggest water supplier Thames Water announces hosepipe ban - as 10 million people face restrictions
The latest ban comes after South East Water said 2.4 million customers will be affected by restrictions in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire from Saturday.
Thames Water, the UK's largest water supplier, has announced it's set to impose a hosepipe ban, with restrictions coming into force later this week.
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Thames Water has said it will introduce the ban, formally known as a Temporary Use Ban (TUB), for all customers whose water is supplied by the firm.
The open-ended restrictions are set to come into effect at 12.01am on Thursday, July 23, with restrictions set to affect around 10 million customers across London, Thames Valley and the Home Counties.
It comes after more than two million people will be subject to a hosepipe ban amid hot weather.
Customers in the affected areas will now face restrictions on water use for non-essential activities, after the firm said current water use was 10 per cent above normal levels - around an extra 100 million litres of water every day.
The ban follows what the company describes as "exceptionally dry weather and sustained high water demand".
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In a statement, Thames Water said: “A temporary hosepipe ban has been announced for customers who receive their water supply from Thames Water.
“We’ve been working around the clock to maintain water supplies, but we now need everyone’s help to reduce non-essential water use.
“Customers affected by the ban are expected to follow the restrictions while it remains in place.
“The restrictions will remain in place until water levels recover.”
Earlier in the week, South East Water said 2.4 million customers will be affected by temporary restrictions in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire from Saturday.
But the firm is asking customers to cut back water use straight away, telling them not to use hosepipes for their gardens, cars, patios, boats or swimming pools.
The ban had been in place just for its customers in Kent.
The firm said it has seen a “decline in river levels” and needs to “protect some groundwater sources” after lower than average rainfall, hot weather and high demand for water.
Douglas Whitfield, water supply director at South East Water, said: “Our absolute priority has to be making sure there is always enough water for everyone’s essential daily needs: drinking, cooking and hygiene.
“To safeguard our shared resource and help prevent any homes from facing a sudden loss of water, we sadly need to ask our communities to not use their hosepipes immediately.
“We are deeply sorry for the disruption this causes, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone helping us protect water supplies in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.”
It comes as central and south-east England have seen the longest unbroken spell of no recorded rainfall this century, Met Office figures suggest.
An average of zero rainfall has been measured across the organisation’s weather stations in both regions for 14 days in a row, from July 2 to July 15, according to the latest available data.
This is the longest unbroken run of days with no rain for south-east England since a 15-day spell in April 1997.
For central England, it is the longest period since a 14-day run of no recorded rainfall in June 1996.
Data for July 16 has yet to be published, but could show the rain-free spells in both regions extending for even longer.
Reservoir storage levels in England are currently at 79%, around five percentage points below the long-term average for the time of year, the Environment Agency said as it released its weekly dry weather and drought report on Friday.
Six reservoirs are classed as having “notably low” levels, including Wimbleball in Somerset, Grafham in Cambridgeshire and Hanningfield in Essex, while Blagdon reservoir in Somerset is classed as being “exceptionally low”.
It comes after there have been 28 days in 2026, consecutive and non-consecutive, when 30C has been exceeded somewhere in the UK: seven in May, eight in June and 13 in July.
The record for the number of 30C-plus days in a calendar year is 34, which was set in 1995.