UK Braces for Floods on Parched Ground as Taps Run Dry
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- South East Water told Kent customers to restrict use to "essential" purposes after taps ran dry for around 8,000 customers on Monday, with ~400 homes still without water after supplies were restored to 7,400 others in Herne Bay, Rough Common and Blean.
- Wessex Water imposed the UK's latest hosepipe ban covering 1.4 million customers across Bath, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire — its first such ban in 50 years, since the summer of 1976.
- Environment Agency data showed five of England's key reservoirs are currently "exceptionally low," while London reservoir storage sits at 74%, far below seasonal norms.
- Thames Water reported July rainfall in its catchment area fell below 1mm (2% of the long-term average), with customers using 100 million litres more water per day than normal — even after its 23 July hosepipe ban cut household demand 3% in London and 6% in the Thames Valley.
- Met Office deputy chief forecaster Mike Silverstone warned that heavy showers forecast for Thursday could cause surface water flooding as intense rain falls on "very dry and hard ground" unable to soak up water quickly.
- University of Reading climate risk professor Liz Stephens said vegetation, rivers, and reservoirs would need many weeks of sustained rainfall to recover and that hosepipe bans should remain in place for some time despite incoming rain.
- A DEFRA spokesperson called the situation "simply not good enough" and demanded South East Water go "further and faster" to reduce leaks and follow its drought plan.
Why it matters: With five reservoirs "exceptionally low" and London storage at 74% — far below seasonal norms — water companies face mounting regulatory pressure after DEFRA publicly called the situation "simply not good enough," and the 1.4 million customers newly under Wessex Water's first ban in 50 years signals restrictions will tighten regionally even as rainfall finally arrives, since baked soils cannot absorb it fast enough to refill supplies.
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