New hosepipe ban introduced in England

Customers urged to use only essential water

The long-term forecast for the English summer is dry weather with little rainfall, water company executive says. Getty Images

A hosepipe ban is being introduced in south-east England – the first new restrictions of summer as the country experiences its first spell of warm weather.

The ban is expected to cover Kent and Sussex because of the record demand for drinking water, South East Water bosses said on Friday.

Southern Water, which also supplies Kent, has told customers that demand is soaring.

Hosepipe bans are already in force for Cornwall and Devon, in south-west England, and East Anglia, but those are the result of companies that were unable to properly recover from the 2022 heatwave, rather than new water usage and shortages.

Areas of Kent and Sussex have little or no water this week after a surge in temperatures that forced schools to shut and residents to get drinking water from bottled water stations.

A plea to use only essential water stretches from Haywards Heath in West Sussex to Whitstable in Kent. The temporary ban on hosepipes and sprinklers will come in on June 26.

South East Water said demand in June has broken records.

"This situation has developed much more rapidly than last year,” said chief executive David Hinton.

“Understandably, we've seen customer demand increase in line with the hotter weather, however this has impacted our ability to keep all customers in supply at all times.

"Despite asking for customers' help to use water for essential uses only, regrettably we've now been left with no choice but to introduce this temporary use ban restriction to protect customers' supplies across Kent and Sussex."

Mr Hinton said the long-term forecast for the summer is a dry period with little rainfall.

"Restricting the use of hosepipes and sprinklers to make sure we have enough water for our customers' essential use will ensure we can serve our vulnerable customers and protect the local environment," he added.

Three schools in East Sussex partially closed due to water shortages.

Areas experiencing no or low water pressure during the week include Crowborough, Wadhurst, Mayfield, Lewes and Newhaven in East Sussex, and Biddenden, Staplehurst, Cranbrook and Ashford in Kent.

Southern Water issued a warning on Thursday that demand for water in Kent was "outstripping supply" as the spell of hot and dry weather continued.

The provider said demand is 15 per cent higher than expected for this time of year, and that levels of use by Kent homes and businesses recorded this week were the highest since last summer's heatwave.