Shops are clamping down on the panic-buying of bottled water, with limits in place as temperatures threaten to soar to 37C this weekend, according to a report in the Mirror.
Eight areas of England are formally under drought restrictions due to the searing heat, falling water levels in rivers and reservoirs, and low rainfall. Some supermarkets were reporting excessive buying of bottled water, with one Aldi store in London limiting customers to the number of bottles they may have. However, Aldi said later on Saturday morning that the limit had been removed.
An Aldi spokesperson told Mirror Online that they had not been advised to put a nationwide limit in place. An amber weather warning for extreme heat was issued by the Met Office for much of England and Wales until Sunday, although thunderstorms are expected to hit next week.
The decision to ration water in some places came after the Government insisted there would be no repeat of household taps going dry, as happened in 1976. "All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe," Water Minister Steve Double said.
"We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed". It is the first drought declared in the UK since 2018.
Despite storms expected to bring the heatwave to a sudden end early next week, much of southern England is unlikely to see significant rain until September. Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent, south London and East Sussex, Hertfordshire and north London, East Anglia, Thames, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, and the East Midlands are all in drought, according to the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
By Saturday afternoon, temperatures could soar as high as 35C in southern areas of the UK, which will be hotter than the Bahamas, Jamaica and Barbados. It will get even hotter on Sunday, with up to 37C expected.
Yorkshire Water is the latest to bring in a hosepipe ban, making the decision for the first time in 27 years, affecting five million customers. The ban comes into force on August 26, and those caught flouting it face fines of up to £1,000. Yorkshire Water said its reservoir levels fell below 50 per cent for the first time since the drought of 1995 and would take months of rainfall to replenish.
Thames Water was set to announce a temporary hosepipe ban "in the coming weeks" due to the long-term forecast of dry weather. DEFRA said today: "Essential supplies of water are safe. Water companies have a duty to ensure these supplies and have reassured regulators and government that they will remain resilient across the country."
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