Overview
- Southern Water will introduce a temporary hosepipe ban from 12:01am on Friday July 10 for about one million customers in Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight to protect supplies fed from the River Test.
- South East Water has already reimposed a temporary ban across much of Kent, and other firms such as Thames Water and Affinity Water are urging customers to cut use even where bans are not in force.
- The Met Office has forecast a third heatwave next week with peak temperatures around 34°C in the south east and the UK Health Security Agency has issued yellow heat‑health alerts covering parts of England.
- Southern Water says the River Test fell to roughly one‑third of normal flows in June and that bans and voluntary cuts are needed now to keep taps running and protect chalk‑stream ecosystems.
- Utilities point to recent reductions in leakage and long‑term projects including a proposed reservoir but warn that without significant, sustained rainfall restrictions could remain through the autumn and raise ecological and public‑health concerns.