Yorkshire Water has announced hosepipe restrictions will be brought in from Friday in an effort to protect water supplies ahead of a predicted warm summer.
The organisation said the region has experienced both the driest and warmest spring on record this year, receiving just 15cm of rainfall between February and June, less than half what is expected in an average year.
There has also been a higher water demand, leaving the region’s reservoirs at 55.8% full, which is 26.1% lower than they would normally be at this time of year.
Yorkshire Water’s director of water, Dave Kaye, said: “We need to take action now to help conserve water and protect Yorkshire’s environment.
“That means from Friday this week, people across Yorkshire will need to stop using their hosepipes to water their gardens, wash their cars or for any other activities.
“Introducing these restrictions is not a decision we have taken lightly, and we’ve been doing everything we can to avoid having to put them in place.”
He continued: “Our region experienced an extremely dry spring, which resulted in the region entering drought status in June. Usually, spring is a time when our groundwater sources and reservoirs continue to be topped-up by changeable weather, but this has not been the case in 2025, with our reservoir stocks falling since the last week of January.
“Of course, we have seen a few periods of changeable weather more recently, which helped slightly with the water resources picture. But these have been followed by constant high temperatures and more dry weather, which causes increased water usage.
“We’re grateful to our customers, who have been saving water where they can this year already. It is really important that we all continue to do so.”
The temporary restrictions coming into force from Friday include using a hosepipe to water gardens and wash private vehicles, fill domestic pools or clean outdoor surfaces.
People can still wash their car and water their gardens using tap water from a bucket or watering can, while businesses will be allowed to use a hosepipe if it is directly related to a commercial purpose.
“These restrictions are intended to make sure that we have enough supply for the essential needs of people across the region this year and next, as well as making sure we’re able to protect our local environment,” Mr Kaye said.
“With more dry weather forecast in the coming weeks, it is likely our stocks will continue to fall so we need to act now to maintain clean water supplies and long-term river health.
“Having restrictions in place also allows us to apply for drought permits from the Environment Agency, which means we can abstract more water from our rivers and reduce compensation flows out of our reservoirs so that we can continue to provide the water our customers rely on us for.
“The restrictions will come into effect on 11 July and will be in place until the region has seen significant rainfall to bring reservoirs and groundwater stocks back to where they need to be. This may last into the winter months, but we will lift the usage restrictions as soon as we are able.”
Last month, the Environment Agency declared Yorkshire had officially moved to “drought” status, following a prolonged period of low rainfall.
