Millions of people in the UK have been asked to stop using their hosepipes as a record-breaking May heatwave grips the southeast.
Thames Water urged people in London and the South East to use a watering can rather than hoses or sprinklers, as it looks to address a surge in demand for water after temperatures rose as high as 35.1C this week.
In some areas the demand for water has increased by up to 50 per cent, the water company said.
“This kind of weather leads to rapid spikes in water use, particularly for outdoor activities like watering gardens, filling paddling pools and using hoses and sprinklers,” the company said in a statement, adding that it is “working hard in these extreme weather conditions to keep your water flowing”.
The company requested that consumers avoid watering gardens during the day and allow lawns to dry out, advising that they will recover quickly.
It urged people to reuse water if possible – for example by using paddling pool water to water plants and by reusing water in paddling pools rather than refilling.
Other tasks, such as car washing, should be delayed, or a bucket should be used instead of a running hose.
Thames Water staff are also addressing hundreds of leaks, it said, with the risk of water leaks increasing as hot, dry ground causes underground pipes to shift and crack.
“Our teams are fixing hundreds of leaks every week, monitoring the network 24/7 and moving water around the system to maintain supplies,” Thames Water said.
“We’re asking you to help us keep the water flowing at your taps. Small steps, these can make a big impact,” it added.
South East Water has also urged customers to only use water for essential purposes, as 500 of its customers across Kent were without water on Sunday.
Incident manager Steve Benton said: “Although our network is recovering, levels of drinking water in our storage tanks are still low and we are asking customers to use water for essential purposes only – drinking, cooking and hygiene.”
He said drinking water storage tanks serving areas in Kent had reached a critical level. Around 165 customers in Cranbrook and 111 in Mereworth were among those without water.
On Friday, thousands of its customers across the county were facing supply issues as a result of “incredibly high demand during this heatwave”.
Temperatures this week shattered records as Kew Gardens reached 35.1C on Monday, exceeding its previous station record of 29.3C and the previous UK May record of 32.8C.
Counties including Oxfordshire, Surrey, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire all saw stations record new maximum records well into the low and mid-30s, with 163 stations breaking their May maximum temperature records, the Met Office said.
The heat will continue on Saturday with temperatures set to reach up to 30C in some areas, including London.
