A hosepipe ban is due to come into effect following extreme hot weather causing dry conditions in parts of England.
It was announced that South East Water will restrict the use of hosepipes and sprinklers within Kent and Sussex from Friday, August 12 with no end date yet released. Once the hosepipe ban is in effect, members of the public will be unable to use hosepipes to water their gardens, clean their cars, or fill up ornamental ponds and swimming pools.
South East Water said on its website: "This has been a time of extreme weather conditions across the UK. Official figures show this is the driest July on record since 1935 and the period between November 2021 and July 2022 has been the driest eight-month stint since 1976.
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“During July in the South East, we have only seen 8% of average rainfall for the month, and the long-term forecast for August and September is for similar weather. The demand for water this summer has broken all previous records, including the Covid lockdown heatwave.
"We have been producing an additional 120 million litres of water a day to supply our customers, which is the equivalent of supplying a further four towns the size of Maidstone or Eastbourne, daily. We have been left with no choice but to restrict the use of hosepipes and sprinklers from 0001 on Friday August 12 within our Kent and Sussex supply area until further notice.
“We are taking this step to ensure we have enough water for both essential use and to protect the environment. This will enable us to also reduce the amount of water we need to take from already stressed local water sources.”
It comes shortly after a hosepipe ban was enforced last week in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Figures from the Met Office indicate that parts of England experienced their driest July this year since records began.
In England, the south-east and central regions only saw an average of 5.0mm of rain last month while East Anglia only had 5.4mm. It is the lowest amount of rainfall in July since the Met Office began records nearly 200 years ago.
As a whole, England saw an average 23.1mm of rainfall - the lowest figure for July since 1935 and the seventh lowest July total on record. For the UK overall, there was 46.33mm of rainfall - the 19th lowest July since records began in 1836.
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