Hosepipe ban: Millions more face restrictions as drought to be declaredon August 12, 2022 at 9:15 am

Millions of people face hosepipe bans as low water levels and tinder dry conditions continue across the UK.

Yorkshire Water is the latest firm to announce restrictions, to start on 26 August, while a South East Water ban is now in place for some 1.4m Kent and Sussex customers.

The government is expected to declare a drought for much of England later.

A four-day amber warning for extreme heat from the Met Office is in place for many parts of England and Wales.

Ongoing dry conditions, combined with July’s record-breaking heatwave, have depleted rivers, reservoirs and aquifers – leading to a number of water firms bringing in restrictions.

Yorkshire Water, which has more than 5m customers, says that parts of the region have seen the lowest rainfall since records began more than 130 years ago.

Elsewhere, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are under a hosepipe ban, while Welsh Water is implementing a ban from 19 August.

Thames Water is also set to follow suit with its own restrictions in the coming weeks.

But Cathryn Ross, strategy and external affairs director for the firm, told BBC Breakfast a ban would probably come in immediately if a drought was declared.

“We’re in a position to move quickly,” she said.

The decision to declare a drought will be taken after a meeting of the National Drought Group, which is made up of government and agency officials, water companies and groups including the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).

Drought is decided area by area, and announcing one means government and water companies will launch plans to deal with it, with measures including hosepipe bans and taking more water than usual from rivers.

Wales Drought Liaison group, including environment, health and water professionals, is also looking at the effect of the prolonged dry weather.

Since late July the UK has officially been in what is called “prolonged dry weather” – the stage before a drought is declared.

The government had already said if this dry picture continues – which it has – then a drought is likely to be declared.

What will determine the decision is the hydrological position across the country – how much water there is around.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency will be asking the other members of the National Drought Group about rainfall, river flows, groundwater levels, reservoir levels and soil moisture.

They will then ask how that is likely to impact the public water supply, how it will affect other people using water like businesses and agriculture and of course they will want to know what the impact on the environment is likely to be.

BBC News has been told that Defra believes there could be serious impacts to some or all of these and will declare that parts of the UK are in drought.

South East Water, whose ban came into force on Friday, is asking people to observe restrictions on using hosepipes to water plants, wash the car and fill a paddling pool. The ban also applies to anything which serves the same purpose as a hosepipe such as sprinklers and irrigation systems or pressure washers.

Rule-breakers could be hit with a £1,000 fine.

The firm said its underground water aquifers were below average for the time of year across Kent and Sussex and its raw water reservoirs were also at a lower level.

Chief executive David Hinton said: “We are taking this step to introduce temporary restrictions on the use of hosepipes and sprinklers to make sure we have enough water for our customers’ essential use, ensure we can serve our vulnerable customers and to protect the local environment.

“By taking this action now we will be able to reduce the amount of water we take from already stressed local water sources.”

Meanwhile, the four day amber extreme heat warning is in place for southern and central England and parts of eastern Wales until Sunday, with warnings that the high temperatures are likely to impact on health and could cause travel disruption.

Met Office chief meteorologist Andy Page said: “Persistent high pressure over the UK means temperatures have been rising day-on-day through this week and it is important people plan for the heat.

“Temperatures are expected to peak at 35C on Friday and possibly 36C over the weekend.

“We will also see increasingly warm nights, with temperatures not expected to drop below the low 20s for some places in the south.”

Temperatures are forecast to be lower early next week with heavy showers and thunderstorms likely in some areas.

Heatwaves are becoming more likely and more extreme because of human-induced climate change.

Research institute UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) said it would require “exceptional” rainfall over the next one to three months to bring river, reservoir and groundwater levels back up to normal.

But scientists have warned bouts of heavy rain after a prolonged period of hot weather can cause flash flooding.

Robert Thompson, a professor of Meteorology at the University of Reading, said “the ground has effectively become like urban concrete” and will not absorb water quickly enough to cope with longer showers.

He told BBC News: “If you put water on the ground now, it doesn’t absorb in, it floats off the top. If we get lots of rain now, it will sit on the surface, meaning there will be lots of water on the surface all at once.

“We need light drizzly rain after a bout of hot weather, not heavy rain, otherwise there’s a danger of flash flooding because the water can’t get into the ground,” he added.