Hosepipe ban 'unless rain comes' - Yorkshire Water

Households in Yorkshire could be facing a hosepipe ban if the sustained dry weather in the region continues, Yorkshire Water has said.

The company's director of water, Dave Kaye, said a ban was a possibility without any rainfall over the coming weeks .

This spring is currently the driest on record since 1852, according to the Met Office.

Mr Kaye said water supplies in Yorkshire were "in a worse situation" than in 2022 when there were three heatwaves over the course of the summer.

"There is a risk of a hosepipe ban," he said. "Hopefully we will see some rain towards the end of May.

"If we get to 80% of long-term average [rainfall], we have modelled we won't need a hosepipe ban.

"If we don't, we are going to have to look at the next steps we need to take."

Severn Trent, which supplies water to households in the Midlands and Wales, said last week it was confident it would not have to impose a hosepipe ban.

But Mr Kaye said the problems with supply were a "national issue" and that "a number of water companies are reporting a very similar position to ours".

He also defended Yorkshire Water's record on investment and protecting supplies after bills for customers increased in April.

"We have added a lot of resilience into our networks," he said.

"We've reduced leakage by 15%, which increases our stocks, and we are spending £408m on mains renewals across the next five years.

"We are doing everything we can to keep as much water as we can.

"We have put the bills up this year and we accept it is going to hit people hard but we have got facilities in place to help people who are finding it difficult."

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