London | Yorkshire Water said on Friday that it will implement a hosepipe restriction beginning on August 26. The company said that parts of northern England have had the least amount of rain since records began more than 130 years ago.
Local news sources say that parts of England will declare a drought on Friday, just before the government, its environmental agency, and water companies meet.
“Due to the hot, dry weather, Yorkshire’s rivers are low and our reservoirs are around 20% lower than we would expect for this time of year,” said Neil Dewis, director of water for Yorkshire Water.
“We’ve done everything we could to avoid putting restrictions in place, but we have to do so now as part of our drought preparation,” he said.
Several water utilities have already implemented water consumption limits. On Friday, a prohibition on hoses and sprinklers goes into force for South East Water customers, while Thames Water, which serves 15 million people in and around London, cited planning limitations.
Large parts of Europe have been hot for weeks, which has led to wildfires that are threatening crops and using up water supplies.
This week, Britain’s environment minister, George Eustice, told water companies to take precautions to protect water supplies and deal with the effects of the long dry weather. Another heatwave is expected to hit the country soon.
(Farouq Suleiman and William James contributed reporting and editing.)
