Tens of thousands of people have been warned to restrict their water use and only turn on the taps when essential, just days before the UK is set to be gripped by its fourth heatwave.
South East Water (SEW) has told customers in Sussex that water reservoirs in the area are “falling quicker and earlier than usual”.
People in the area have been asked to only use water for essential use, such as for drinking, washing and cooking.
SEW already has a hosepipe ban in place in Sussex and Kent, but has warned it is monitoring water supplies in parts of Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire to see if further restrictions are needed.
More than 8.5 million UK households are currently under hosepipe bans, with Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water also bringing in restrictions following a spell of warm weather in July.
The latest warning comes as a yellow heat health alert has been issued for large parts of the UK next week, with temperatures set to soar past 30C in some areas.
The UK Health Security Agency heat warning, cautioning “significant impacts” across health and social care services, is in place from 12pm on Monday until 6pm on Wednesday. The alert covers Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands, the East of England, the South East and the South West.
Temperatures are set to hit 27C in parts of southern England over the weekend, and then rise to over 30C in parts of central, southern and eastern England on Monday and Tuesday.
Ahead of the latest heatwave, a spokesperson for South East Water warned: “Our surface water reservoirs, Ardingly and Arlington, are an important source of water and are falling quicker and earlier than usual.
“Most of the water in them is taken from the nearby rivers, whose flow is much lower than normal because of multiple heatwaves.
“The reservoirs have not been this low at this time of year since the drought of 2022 and, with more warm weather due very soon, we’re asking people to protect resources and keep water use around the home to essential purposes only – namely drinking, washing and cooking.”
Steven Keates at the Met Office said: “We’re confident that temperatures will increase markedly by the start of next week, reaching the low 30s Celsius in parts of England on Monday and perhaps the mid-30s in a few places on Tuesday.
“However, the length of this warm spell is still uncertain, and it is possible that high temperatures could persist further into next week, particularly in the south”.
The fourth heatwave this year follows one in June and two in July. Authorities register a heatwave when a location records a period of at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding the heatwave temperature threshold.
This threshold varies depending on the area, from 25C in Scotland to 28C in London.
