Tuesday 9 August 2022 10:16 PM Heatwave: More than 30 million face hosepipe bans as water companies struggle ... trends now
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Almost half of the UK population face hosepipe bans within weeks after a leaked document revealed three more water companies are planning restrictions.
Yesterday Britain’s biggest water company, Thames Water, which supplies some 15million people, said it would announce a ban in the coming weeks.
Restrictions covering nearly three million people have already been announced by Southern Water, South East Water and Welsh Water.
And an internal Environment Agency document seen by the Daily Mail reveals that the water companies discussing whether to bring in a ban are Yorkshire, with five million customers, Severn Trent with eight million and South West with up to two million. If enacted, it would bring the number of people under a hosepipe ban to around 33million.
Planned hosepipe bans could see the water supplies of some 33 million people affected as water companies struggle to cope with demand
A cow on Minchinhampton Common, Gloucestershire struggles to find shelter from the hot conditions
Some 33 million people face having their water supplies affected as companies struggle to cope with the demand caused by the extremely warm summer
It came as the Met Office issued an amber extreme heat warning for parts of England and Wales for tomorrow until Sunday as temperatures are expected to reach 35C (95F) or 36C (97F). The UK Health and Security Agency also put the UK on a level three heat-health alert.
The hot weather led to tragedy on Monday as a 14-year-old boy died after getting into difficulty in a lake in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.
There was also dire warnings that drought conditions could last three months. The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology predicts ‘exceptionally low’ flow levels in rivers until October.
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