Hosepipe ban brought in for more people amid 'decline in river levels'

More than two million people will face a hosepipe ban after South East Water said it was extending water restrictions.

Customers in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire will be placed under temporary restrictions from Saturday.

Despite the ban not coming in for several more days, the water firm said the 2.4 million customers should "immediately" cut back any use of hosepipes.

People are being urged not to use hosepipes for any purpose, including on their gardens, cars, patios, boats or swimming pools.

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.

It comes after South East Water brought in a ban for customers in Kent earlier this month, including Ashford, Canterbury, Faversham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Snodland, Tenterden and Tunbridge Wells.

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."

Over the weekend, 7,000 customers of the water firm living around the Tunbridge Wells and Pembury areas faced supply issues.

Households experienced low pressure, intermittent supply or no water after an "instrument failure" caused a water treatment works to shut down, said South East Water.

Services were restored on Sunday evening, the firm added.

Last week, the industry watchdog said South East Water is facing a £30.5m redress package for multiple other customer service failures.

Areas affected by hosepipe bans

'Temperatures widely above average'

Forecasters said the UK will remain dry in the days ahead, while it is "uncertain" if rain in northern areas will reach southern parts.

Sky News meteorologist Dr Christopher England said: "The UK is going to be essentially dry into the weekend, with temperatures widely above average, although northern and western parts in particular will be fairly cloudy with a little drizzle and largely inconsequential rain.

"Saturday looks like bringing some locally heavy rain into the North West, which will spread southeast across England and Wales, but how far it will get before petering out is uncertain at this stage.

"Thereafter, it's all very uncertain for the first week of August, but likely warm with some rain in the North, while the South will be mainly dry."

'Longest unbroken spell of no recorded rain'

It comes as central and southeast England have seen the longest unbroken spell of no recorded rainfall this century, according to Met Office figures.

An average of zero rainfall has been measured across the organisation's weather stations in both regions for 14 days in a row, from 2 July to 15 July, according to latest data.

This is the longest unbroken run of days with no rain for southeast 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 16 July has yet to be published.

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.

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".

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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.

A new report recently revealed the UK is experiencing a period of "historic and unprecedented change" to its climate.

Man-made climate change, mostly caused by burning fossil fuels, is driving more extreme weather - and in the South East, the hottest day of the year is 4.5C warmer on average than it was just a few decades ago, the Met Office said.

(c) Sky News 2026: Hosepipe ban brought in for more people amid 'decline in river levels'