LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s Thames Water announced a temporary “hosepipe ban” on Monday, aimed at cutting water usage across large parts of southern England, following the country’s driest and warmest spring in over a century.
Thames Water, Britain’s biggest water supplier which has 16 million customers, said the ban would take effect on July 22, and apply to households across several counties including Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Berkshire, but not in London.
Under the ban, customers are prohibited from using hosepipes for activities such as washing cars, watering gardens or allotments, filling paddling or swimming pools, and cleaning windows.
Other water suppliers in England have also introduced bans this month, with Yorkshire Water and South East Water both announcing temporary restrictions last week.
“This has been a challenging spring and summer,” Nevil Muncaster, Thames Water’s Strategic Water Resources Director, said. “Given the continued warm, dry weather we do not anticipate that the situation will improve any time soon so we have to take action now.”
The government said last month it would step up efforts to protect water resources ahead of the summer, as reservoirs across England are only 77% full, well below the seasonal average of 93%.
Scientists say climate change is making droughts and drier summers more frequent.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Sarah Young and William James)
