The hosepipe ban has been extended to a further four UK counties.
Hosepipe bans have been introduced to combat the severe lack of rainfall over recent weeks (Image: Getty)
More than two million Britons will be hit by a hosepipe ban this week, with restrictions vastly extended as the hot weather continues. About 2.4 million customers will be affected by temporary restrictions in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire from Saturday, according to South East Water (SEW).
The utilities giant has also asked customers to reduce the water use immediately, urging them not to use hosepipes for their gardens, cars, patios, boats or swimming pools. The ban will come into effect from 00:01 BST on Saturday, but SEW has asked its customers to abide by the restrictions immediately. Under the restrictions, households in the affected areas will be banned from using a hosepipe in their homes for tasks including cleaning, filling ponds, or watering plants.
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.”
The ban 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, this marks the longest dry spell since June 1996, when the region experienced 14 consecutive days without any recorded rainfall.
Meanwhile, reservoir storage levels across England stand at 79%, which is about five percentage points below the seasonal long-term average, according to the Environment Agency’s weekly dry weather and drought report released on Friday.