Millions of Yorkshire households are facing a potential hosepipe ban in two weeks time to cope with the county’s drought.
Internal Yorkshire Water documents suggest a temporary ban for its five million customers has been pencilled in for July 14, The Times revealed.
The water company would be the first to implement a hosepipe ban this year amid warnings from others that there may be bans this summer.
“We use a wide variety of scenarios to continually assess our water resources and the likelihood of any restrictions being required,” Yorkshire Water said.
“We have been carrying out this work since early 2025, due to the dry start to the year and forecasts for long periods of dry weather through the spring and into summer. This was the case in mid May, when we submitted these documents to the Environment Agency.”
It comes as other parts of the UK and continental Europe are experiencing severe heatwaves, ramping up water demand. The climbing temperatures are thought to be exacerbated by a heat dome.
In mid-June Yorkshire became the second region in England to move into official drought status after the driest spring in 132 years.
The Environment Agency made the status change following declining groundwater levels and river flows because of the dry March, April and May.
The agency then applied for a six-month drought order to restrict the flow of water from Elslack reservoir near Skipton in North Yorkshire to downstream rivers. Environment secretary Steve Reed must approve the order for it to be implemented.
“We are working with Yorkshire Water to make sure they enact their drought plans,” Yorkshire environment, planning and engagement manager Claire Barrow previously said.
“We also encourage people to be aware of the environmental impacts of droughts as we enter the summer period and note the small steps we can all take to save water.”
Yorkshire Water’s reservoir levels are down to 58.3 percent capacity, which is 23.6 percent lower than the usual 81.9 percent for this time of year.
The Wharfe, the Ure and the Ouse rivers are also at their lowest in recent years, according to the firm’s presentation documents from their May “dry weather liaison meeting”.
The Ouse was 400 megalitres lower than the last big drought year in 2022, when 19 million people faced a hosepipe ban. South West Water were the last to lift their ban in September 2023.
The meeting documents also indicated the firm could be a month away from applying for a drought order for its Holme Styes reservoir.
Southern Water and Thames Water have warned that bans will depend on rainfall in coming weeks, while Severn Trent has ruled out a ban this summer.
Taking shorter showers, using water butts to garden and fixing leaky lavatories are amongst the steps the public can take to support water usage efforts.
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