Wessex Water imposes hosepipe ban on millions of Britons for first time in 50 years

Wessex Water has introduced a hosepipe ban for the first time in its history as the UK continues to suffer from drought.

The water firm said the temporary use ban will come into effect from midnight on Tuesday for all 1.4 million customers that it supplies with water across areas in Bath, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.

The company said its water supply network is facing increasing pressure amid record levels of demand combined with ongoing hot conditions and no significant rain forecast for the area.

Wessex Water’s ban means that more than 27 million people across England currently have their hosepipe use restricted.

Wessex Water’s Chief Executive Ruth Jefferson said the decision to put a ban in place comes from a combination of increased demand for water during the ongoing dry weather and longer-term forecasts.

She said: "After 50 years without a hosepipe ban in the Wessex Water region, the first since the famous drought of 1976, this isn’t a decision we’ve made lightly and we’re sorry for the inconvenience it will cause.

"We know so many of our customers have already been taking steps to save water and we’re incredibly grateful for their support so far this summer. It makes such a difference.

"But the prolonged and extreme dry weather has meant demand across our region has consistently remained at more than 400 million litres per day, 30 per cent above average for this time of year and the equivalent of almost half a million hosepipes running for a full hour every day."

She continued: "While we’re not running out of water for essential use, our challenge has been moving water through the network quickly enough to meet these record levels of demand.

"This also has an impact on our underground storage reservoirs, which normally replenish with treated water quickly."

The decision comes off the back of the UK’s fifth heatwave of the summer, which saw the hottest day of the year recorded in Kew Gardens, London, on Thursday when temperatures reached 38.1C.

Land is parched across vast areas of the country, with weeks of extreme heat and little rainfall bringing severe impacts to wildlife, farmers and emergency services as they battle wildfires.

Wessex Water said it is contacting larger business customers who are high water users to encourage them to avoid non-essential use.

It is also encouraging households to make small and simple changes during the ongoing dry spell to ensure water supplies and the environment are protected.

These include letting the lawn go brown, using watering cans to water plants, keeping showers short and not washing the car.

In the meantime, warm conditions continue in many areas on Monday, with a yellow heat health alert extended until 9am on Tuesday for the South East, South West, and London.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: "I can’t promise rain for all of us through the week ahead, but in the south at least, it’s looking like the most changeable week we’ve seen here, well at least since the end of June."

A jet stream which has been far in the north of the UK has allowed high pressure to dominate, causing the recent excessively hot conditions, Mr Morgan said.

Mr Morgan said it would travel south, meaning that low pressure will dominate, adding: "So a much more changeable and at times unsettled outlook through the middle part of the week, low pressure will dominate and slowly drift its way southwards."

Showers are expected to become more widespread on Thursday with a mix of sunshine and rain earlier in the week, according to the Met Office.