1,000,000 people face hosepipe ban next week ahead of third heatwave of 2026

A hosepipe ban is being brought into force for one million people across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

It is the second year in a row Southern Water is putting the restriction in place, which will see customers banned from using hosepipes from July 10.

But the provider has urged houses to put down their hosepipes now, to avoid putting the network under further pressure’.

It is expected restrictions will remain until autumn unless the UK experiences significant and sustained rainfall.

A ban for South East Water customers is already in force in Kent.

It comes after a record breaking heatwave saw UK temperatures soar to 37C, drying up water supplies.

The River Test, which supplies water to most people in Hampshrie and Isle of Wight, has reached a critically low level.

Tania Flasck, director of water operations, told the BBC: ‘In June, we’ve actually seen a third of the flow and so the models have just not necessarily predicted that.

‘When we’ve actually measured the levels we’ve seen it’s dropped down a lot, a lot further and faster than we’ve anticipated.’

Temperature records were smashed on three consecutive days last week, while people endured travel disruption on the railways and at Heathrow and Gatwick as the sweltering spell gripped western Europe.  

The 37C conditions bit especially deep in cities like London and Paris, amplified by concrete, narrow streets and badly insulated homes turning into heat traps.

Over 1,300 excess deaths were linked to the latest hot spell on the continent, and at least seven people drowned in the UK’s open waters.

If you were hoping for the summer heatwaves to be done with, brace for more – another warm weather front could be hitting the UK over the weekend and into next week.

At the moment, the UK can take a breath of fresh air as temperatures remain below 25C even in London and the South East, the area in the eye of the heatwave where a rare extreme heat warning was in place.

There will be patches of rain in northern England and Scotland over the next couple of days.

However, the areas most desperate for rainfall in the south will remain dry, risking drought and another hosepipe ban or the Kent ban being extended, MJim Dale, the founder of the British Weather Services, told Metro.