Drought is officially declared in England as stores begin to ration bottled water
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Swathes of England are officially in drought today amid scorching temperatures and hardly any rain since June as supermarkets began rationing bottled water to prevent panic buying and millions more households edged closer to a hosepipe ban.
Residents in the South West, Southern and Central England and East of England have been move into drought status where they are being urged to be frugal with water use because of the driest summer in 50 years with no rain and 35C [95f] forecast today, 37C [98f] forecast tomorrow and 35C [95f] on Sunday.
But the Government has insisted that there will be no repeat of household taps going dry like in 1976, where millions had to use standpipes in the street.
‘All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe,’ Water Minister Steve Double said, add: ‘We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed’.
It is the first drought declared in the UK since 2018 – although that one was rapidly brought to an end by heavy rain – but despite the threat of torrential downpours and thunderstorms on Monday, much of southern England is unlikely to see significant rain until September.
The move will also put pressure on water companies to do more to conserve supplies after a number of major leaks in recent weeks wasting millions of gallons of water. The heat and dry conditions have also taken their toll on agriculture, including grains, fruit and vegetables.
The National Farmers Union also said ‘tinder dry’ standing crops and parched grass posed a huge risk of fires spreading as Britons were urged not to have barbecues in case it starts blazes amid warnings that fire brigades are already too stretched to cope.
Hosepipe bans have already been announced for around 17million people – and another 15million could soon join them. Parts of southern England had the driest July since records began, and reservoir levels have fallen to their lowest levels in last 30 years.
Aldi has put up posters limiting customers to between three and five bottles of drinking water each amid panic buying.
Today, Yorkshire Water became the fifth company in England and Wales to announce a hosepipe ban for its five million customers.
Southern Water, South East Water, Welsh Water and Thames Water have all announced hosepipe bans either now or in the coming weeks. South West Water and Severn Trent have all indicated they will also bring in restrictions. Together, they would cover more than 32 million people.
A shoppers next to bottled drinking water in Sainsbury’s supermarket in London as the heatwave continues and the National Drought Group declared an official drought across much of England
A shopper with cases of bottled water in Aldi supermarket in London which is rationing drinking water as the heatwave continues
Aldi has put up posters limiting customers to between three and five bottles of drinking water each amid panic buying.
Panic buying has broken out amid rising prices and continuing boiling conditions
Temperatures are expected to hit 95F (35C) today – making the country hotter than parts of the Caribbean and threatening crops like potatoes, apples, hops, broccoli and sprouts.
The conditions, which have almost completely deprived some areas of rainfall all summer, have prompted the National Drought Group to move parts of the South West, parts of southern and central England, and the East of England into official drought status.
The change could lead to more measures such as hosepipe bans, however, the Environment Agency has reassured the public that essential water supplies are safe.
The NDG is made up of representatives from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, water companies, the Environment Agency, the National Farmers’ Union, Natural England, Consumer Council for Water, water services regulator Ofwat, Water UK and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, as well as the Angling Trust and the Rivers Trust.
Water Minister Steve Double said action was already being taken by the Government, the Environment Agency and others to manage the impacts.
‘All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe, and we have made it clear it is their duty to maintain those supplies’, he said.
‘We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed.’
The most recent EA data showed rainfall totals for August have ranged from 12% of the long-term average in north east England to 0% in southeast and south west England.
Meanwhile river flow data revealed almost 90% of measuring sites were showing below normal readings, with 29% classed as ‘exceptionally low’.
It comes after the driest July on record for some areas and the driest first half of the year since 1976.
Four water companies, Welsh Water, Southern Water, Thames Water, and South East Water have all imposed hosepipe bans, while Yorkshire Water has announced a ban will start on August 26.
The National Drought Group – made up of Government and agency officials, water companies and other groups such as the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) – is set to meet tomorrow to discuss the prolonged dry weather
The heat and dry conditions have also taken their toll on agriculture.
According to the NFU, crops such as sugar beet and maize are showing signs of stress from a lack of rain, while crops relying on irrigation, such as field vegetables and potatoes, are also facing problems.
NFU deputy president Tom Bradshaw said the situation was ‘hugely challenging’ for farmers who were facing running out of irrigation water and having to use winter feed for animals because of a lack of grass.
The NFU also said ‘tinder dry’ standing crops and parched grass posed a huge risk of fires spreading.
Mark Hardingham, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, said: ‘While we are likely to see more wildfires due to the current conditions, it is impossible to say whether this will be more than when the country experienced 40-degree temperatures.
‘The bigger risk at the moment is a combination of temperature and wind speed, which will contribute to fire spread and makes incidents harder to manage and extinguish.’
However, he added brigades were ‘well prepared and have plans in place’ to respond.
Panic buyers have returned – and this time they’re after bottles of water in preparation for the impending drought.
Now, Brits are returning to the pre-Covid angst of empty shelves and are trying to stock up on water before it’s too late.
One user took to Twitter and wrote: ‘I’m going to rush out and buy 6 months stock of bottled water now!’
However, evidently some people are already furnishing their supply, with another user saying he saw one person at the supermarket with two trolleys full of bottled water.
Yorkshire Water will bring in a hosepipe ban from August 26, with its director of water, Neil Dewis, saying parts of the county had seen the lowest rainfall since records began more than 130 years ago.
Under the restrictions, customers are banned from using a hosepipe to water their gardens, clean their vehicles, fill their swimming pools or clean their homes.
However, they are still permitted to complete those activities with tap water from a bucket or watering can, or using water that is not sourced from taps.
Businesses will only be allowed to use a hosepipe if it is directly related to a commercial purpose.
What’s causing Europe’s extreme summer? As England officially declares drought, rivers run dry in Germany and ‘monster’ wildfires ravage France – SHIVALI BEST on how the answer could lie far away over the Atlantic
Europe is sweltering through a record-breaking summer of heatwaves and drought that has parched the continent and turned forests tinder-dry.
Wildfires are blazing across France, while Germany’s most-important river, the Rhine, is on the verge of running dry, and swathes of England are officially in drought today.
In this video, MailOnline’s Shivali Best explains the Azores High – a new weather phenomena that is ‘driving Europe’s extreme drought’.
The Azores High usually sits to the south but is currently directly over the UK and Ireland, stretching from the Azores Islands
Using climate models, scientists simulated global weather over the past 1,200 years and found that the number of large Azores Highs is extremely unusual
A general view of dry grass on the football pitches at Hackney Marshes. The Met Office has issued an amber extreme heat warning which came into force on Thursday and covers the rest of this week
Cattle search for drinking water on Dartmoor, Devon at what until recently was an established watering hole, but is now completely dry
An aerial view of the harvest during the heatwave in Scampton, Lincolnshire. Parts of southern England have had the driest July since records began, and reservoirs are at their lowest level for 30 years. Sources last night said they expect the drought declaration to be a ‘formality’
Low water level is pictured yesterday at Pontsticill Reservoir amid the ongoing heat wave near Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
An image of scorched Britain captured on July 10 showed how ongoing drought conditions have affected the country
Anglian Water staff handing out energy bottles of water to the residents of Haddenham in Cambridgeshire on Thursday afternoon
The driest first seven months of the year in decades and hot spells have left parts of the UK facing looming drought, prompting hosepipe bans and warnings about the impact on agriculture, rivers and wildlife. Pictured: A dried out pond in Churchill Gardens, Bromley, east London
New oak trees in Windsor Great Park begin to grow next to dead oak trees which still provide a vital habitat for insects
A completely dry pond in Wanstead Park in northeast London, as heatwaves and drought caused by climate change continue in the UK
A dried riverbed in Kemble, Gloucestershire, near the source of the River Thames is pictured yesterday
Firefighters put out a grass fire at Hollow Ponds in Leytonstone, East London, yesterday
Parts of southern England have seen the driest July since records began, and reservoir levels have fallen to their lowest levels in 30 years. Sources last night said they expect the drought declaration to be a ‘formality’.
A four-day amber warning for extreme heat from the Met Office is in place for much of England and Wales until Sunday as temperatures are forecasted to rise to 99F (37C) over the weekend with warnings of health impacts and disruption to travel.
There are also fears rain after the dry weather will cause flash floods, the Met Office said, with warnings set for northern parts of the UK next week. This has already prompted farmers like TV star Jeremy Clarkson to harvest their crops early.
‘It may be the wrong type of rain because it falls very fast and very hard,’ Paul Davies, the Met Office chief meteorologist, told the BBC.
‘When it comes against the hard ground then the water flows very fast, taking debris and causing flash flooding, whereas other areas may see very little at all.’
A drought would be the first declared in the UK since 2018 – although that one was rapidly brought to an end by heavy rain.
The move will be announced after a meeting of the National Drought Group today, led by the Environment Agency and including water firms and groups such as the National Farmers’ Union and the Angling Trust.
It comes as:
- A Met Office amber warning for extreme heat came into force yesterday that will last until Sunday
- Forecasters said temperatures could hit 37C (99F) in Birmingham and London between today and the end of the weekend
- Fire chiefs saw eight times as many grass fires this week compared to a year ago
- Police say arsonists have targeted tinder-dry fields and parks
- Sainsbury’s became the latest supermarket to stop the sale of disposable barbecues
- Meteorologists said showers next week are unlikely to be enough to replenish reservoirs
While an official declaration of drought will not trigger any specific action by water companies, it creates a ‘sense of urgency’ for them, according to Government sources. An Environment Agency spokesman said firms were under no obligation to take action.
There has been criticism that water firms in England and Wales let 681 million gallons of water leak from their pipes every day, equivalent to 1,245 full Olympic swimming pools.
Tory leadership candidate Rishi Sunak yesterday vowed to crack down on leaking water companies if he becomes prime minister, saying ‘nothing is off the table’. But aides in Liz Truss’s camp said this amounted to a policy U-turn as he had previously supported hosepipe bans.
The UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology said it would require ‘exceptional’ rainfall over the next one to three months to replenish water stocks. Satellite images show huge areas of England looking yellow and parched under the extreme dry weather.
According to the Sun, some supermarket shelves were stripped dry from water bottles.
Hosepipe bans also in turn have an effect on farmers, which could threaten crops.
Jerry Knox, a professor of agricultural water management at Cranfield University, told the Guardian: ‘We are starting to see real issues for crops such as potatoes. We will see reduced yields and particularly reduced quality.’
‘Potatoes are set to become more expensive while farmers are already abandoning plans to grow brassicas like cabbages,’ Professor Jerry Knox of Cranfield University told the Times. ‘The autumn and winter will be critical to to return to normal conditions.’
Professor Liz Bentley, chief executive of the Royal Meteorological Society, said: ‘Drought will not disappear in a matter of days — it’s going to take a long period of sustained rainfall.’
The UK Health Security Agency has put a heat health alert in place. Temperatures hit 34.2C (93.6F) at Wiggonholt, West Sussex, yesterday.
Forecaster Craig Snell said: ‘It’s going to be an incredibly hot day, and very sunny across the board, with temperatures slightly higher than what we saw on Thursday.’
There is also a heat health alert in place from the UK Health Security Agency, with experts advising people to look out for those who are older or with existing health conditions, as well as young children.
The ongoing dry conditions, combined with last month’s record-breaking heatwave, have depleted rivers, reservoirs and aquifers and dried up soils, hitting agriculture, water supplies and wildlife and raising the risk of wildfires.
Four water companies in England and Wales have already brought in hosepipe bans or have signalled their intention to do so, while the Wildlife Trusts have called for an England-wide hosepipe ban to protect nature and rivers.
Brits have been trying to beat the hosepipe band by coming out with initiative solutions to get around the measure
Pictured: West Midlands fire service are warning Britons to stay safe in the heat and keep hydrated throughout the heatwave
A fire which broke out on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire yesterday as the UK is warned of more wildfires at the weekend
Firefighters attend to a fire yesterday, following a long period of hot weather and little rain in Rainham, Essex
Firefighters attend to a fire in Rainham, Essex yesterday, following a long period of hot weather and little rain
A water tanker in Northend, Oxfordshire, yesterday as dozens of homes in the Oxfordshire village were left without water after E.coli was found in a nearby reservoir
Grass wildfire on Canvey Island yesterday. A wildfire started very close to the big Morrison’s store and spread very quickly
A man is pictured walking on a path amongst dead grass in Victoria Park, east London. The Met Office has issued an amber heat warning running between Thursday and Sunday, which could see temperatures peak at 36C across southern England and eastern Wales
Council suspends food and garden waste collections for a MONTH – in the middle of heatwave
Waltham Forest Council gave residents just five days notice that their food bins and garden waste bins will not be collected until September 12
Some Londoners have been left outraged after being informed by their council that food bins will not be collected from their homes for more than a month despite the next heatwave looming.
Waltham Forest Council took to social media to let people know that from August 15, both food and garden waste bins will not be collected until September 12.
Furious residents of the north-east London borough have fired back, highlighting that their ‘rotting’ food will be left uncollected during the UK heatwave.
And Waltham Forest deputy group leader for the Conservatives Afzal Akram revealed that him and his colleagues were ‘flabbergasted’ when they heard about the suspension.
Cllr Akram told MailOnline: ‘We are flabbergasted by this decision being made and by the way it has been communicated.
‘We as councillors only heard about it once the council put it out on social media. It’s one of those blue sky thinking moments that you think of something and straight away you should throw it in the bin.
‘But for them to go and implement it is ridiculous. We are in a heatwave and they expect residents to leave food lying their for month – the stench, the stink is going to be unbelievable.’
The council believes that the ‘temporary’ measure will allow it to focus on other services over the summer and reduce unnecessary journeys.
It highlighted that less garden waste has had to be collected given the lack of rainfall in the UK this summer.
The council has told homeowners to dispose of any garden and food waste in brown bins until collection resumes.
Some water companies have failed to meet their own targets for cutting household leaks and domestic use, with many blaming the coronavirus pandemic as more people have been at home.
Ofwat, the water regulator. said in a statement: ‘Progress has been made in the past few years but there is much further to go, which is why we are pushing companies to reduce leakage, fix their environmental performance and become more financially resilient while keeping bills affordable and helping customers reduce their consumption.
‘Where we find that companies have fallen short, we will act – over the last five years, for example, we have imposed penalties and payments of over £250 million.’
It comes after temperatures reached 34.2C at Wiggonholt, West Sussex, on Thursday afternoon, while many areas in southern England and Wales hit the low 30s.
Fires broke out in different areas, including London, Essex, Gloucestershire, Surrey and Cheshire, yesterday.
The London Fire Brigade were called at 11:36am yesterday to a fire at Hollow Ponds on Whipps Cross Road in Leytonstone, where around 75 square metres of grass and shrub land were alight. Two fire engines and around 10 firefighters attended the scene and the inferno was under control around an hour later. The cause of the blaze is still being investigated.
National Highways have also urged Britons to be ‘prepared’ with bottles of water before setting out amid more train strikes scheduled this weekend.
Met Office meteorologist Marco Petagna said: ‘The risk is very high across much of central, southern and eastern England. Going into Friday and the weekend, it starts to increase further, going into the highest category of exceptional risk.’
Heatwave thresholds – which are met at different temperatures in different parts of the country – are likely to be hit in much of the UK.
Temperatures reached 34.2C at Wiggonholt, West Sussex, on Thursday afternoon, and climbed above 33C in a number of places from Shropshire to the south east of England.
Met Office chief meteorologist Andy Page also said: ‘Persistent high pressure over the UK means temperatures have been rising day-on-day through this week and it is important people plan for the heat.
‘Temperatures are expected to peak at 35C on Friday and possibly 36C over the weekend.
‘We will also see increasingly warm nights, with temperatures expected not to drop below the low 20s for some places in the south.’
He said temperatures would drop early next week, with heavy showers and thunderstorms likely in some areas – but it was ‘impossible to say yet exactly where and when they will occur’.
Britain has been told to brace for a sweltering heatwave this week as a Level 3 Heat Health Alert also came into effect Tuesday and has been extended until Saturday – with little rain expected to help relieve the threat of drought which has prompted hosepipe bans and fire warnings.
Mark Hardingham, the chairman of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said that he ‘can’t remember a summer like this’ in his entire 32-year career in the fire service.
A cyclist braves the soaring temperatures across Britain yesterday as the Met Office has also raised its Fire Severity Index to exceptional
A woman was pictured walking near Big Ben in London yesterday as heatwaves and prolonged dry weather are damaging landscapes, gardens and wildlife, the National Trust has warned
Algal blooms are smothering parts of the Jubilee River in Slough, Berkshire yesterday. As the heatwave continues an Amber Level 3 Heat Health Alert remains in force with temperatures forecast to peak on Saturday
Firefighters put out a grass fire at Hollow Ponds in Leytonstone, East London on Thursday afternoon as parts of the UK have become a tinder box due to the extreme hot weather
Pictured: A view from the runway of Gatwick Airport sees smoke billowing in the distance from a suspected wildfire from the Crawley area earlier today. The heat and constant dry weather in the south west has risen concerns about serious drought and wildfires
He told The Telegraph: ‘We’re not going to see temperatures as hot as we saw three weeks ago, but that doesn’t matter because the ground couldn’t get any drier than it already is.
The good, the bad and downright cheeky: How cunning Brits are BEATING (and flouting) the hosepipe ban– filling up pools from their baths, taking showers standing in buckets and using ‘grey water’ from their sinks to water their plants
More than 30 million people across the UK are facing hosepipe bans as temperatures continue to soar.
The Isle of Man has had the ban in place since Friday, August 5, while Southern Water introduced it in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight yesterday. Southeast Water, which serves Kent and Sussex, will enforce the ban tomorrow.
Greater London, the Thames Valley, Surrey, Essex, Gloucestershire, and parts of Wiltshire will also face the restrictions in coming weeks.
The rule means that hosepipes cannot be connected to a main hose pipe for any reason, including watering plants, filling paddling pools or washing cars.
But savvy Brits are finding tricks to get around the ban, while others are brazenly ignoring it with some even boasting about it on social media.
One woman on TikTok was seen to be breaking the ban by attaching her hosepipe directly to her bath tap.
She then proceeded to turn on the tap and run the hose to her outdoor paddling pool.
In the video the woman can be seen miming: ‘I am not allowed, I know I am not allowed.
‘I’ve done it now, it’s too bleeding late. What they going to do? What’s going to happen?
‘Are they going to shoot me? I doubt it, they’d have to catch me first. I’m like a whippet’.
In London, one resident was caught filling up a large blue paddling pool using a public tap in St George’s Square, Pimlico. Westminster Council said in response to the local’s hack that the water is for the shrubs and plants only.
The local authority added: ‘We’d not advocate filling up pools or any other receptacle in our green spaces, especially during a heatwave.’
Drought is expected to be declared for some parts of England, as another heatwave scorches the country after months of low rainfall.
Warnings are in place over the health impacts of extreme heat and the risk of wildfires, as temperatures are expected to climb as high as 36C in some areas.
The National Drought Group – made up of Government and agency officials, water companies and other groups such as the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) – is set to meet on Friday to discuss the prolonged dry weather.
There are expectations drought could be declared for the most affected areas of England in the south and east, after the driest July on record for some areas and the driest first half of the year since 1976.
The ongoing dry conditions, combined with last month’s record-breaking heatwave, have depleted rivers, reservoirs and aquifers and dried up soils, hitting agriculture, water supplies and wildlife and raising the risk of wildfires.
Declaring drought will see the Environment Agency and water companies implementing more of their plans to manage the impacts of low water levels, which can include actions such as hosepipe bans.
One cheeky Londoner decided to bring their paddling pool to St George’s Square in Pimlico, to use the council’s tap to fill it up. Westminster Council said that the water is to be used for plants and shrubs only. It added: ‘We’d not advocate filling up pools or any other receptacle in our green spaces, especially during a heatwave.’
Meanwhile gardeners across the country are finding ways to keep their precious plants hydrated.
On the latest episode of Gardeners’ World, Monty Don encouraged people to use ‘grey water’ to water their plants saying whether it’s from ‘washing up dishes or yourself is perfectly good on floral plants’.
He did, however, warn people to not use it on plants that grow food.
Some people have been showering in a bucket to collect enough grey water to chuck on their plants while others are are draining the dirty water from their washing machines.
Other gardeners found managed to pump the grey water from their showers and their baths directly into a water butt outside.
One mother-of-two revealed her sneaky hack on TikTok of emptying 150 litres of bath water into her water butt in her garden to keep her plants alive.
The video shows her pulling a hosepipe through the upstairs bathroom window and attaching it with string.
She then drains the bathwater through the pipe as her husband sucks the end of it to get the bath water flowing into the container downstairs.
In total, the dirty bath water was used to fill 15 watering cans.
Dog owners affected by the ban are also taking steps to save as much water as possible when washing their pet pooches. While others took a more comedic approach to the ban pretending to stockpile on hosepipes ahead of the ban.
Some people across social media posted sketches of them snitching on their neighbours using their hosepipes – despite the ban.
In some areas across the UK people are being urged to snitch on anyone they see flouting the water restrictions.
Two women on TikTok were seen poking fun at the advice to snitch on the people who live next door.
The video shows a woman filling up her outside paddling pool with a hose, supposedly during the hosepipe ban.
Her nosey neighbour is then spotted peering out through her back door in her dressing gown, feeling the rule-breaker on her phone.
The snitch is seen saying ‘yeh I got you, I got you on camera. I got you on candid camera now’ at which point the paddling pool owner shoves the hose in her mouth.
While others in more northern parts of the country reveled in the fact they were not affected by the ban so can continue to make ‘cooling stations’ throughout the hot summer.
TikToker Jenny Davies shared a video of her partner finding her filling up the bath with gallon-sized bottles of water. He walks in on her and asks her why she has decided to fill up the bath with bottled water.
She replied: ‘Because of the hosepipe ban. There’s a hosepipe ban in place, we are not allowed to use our water because the hosepipes are connected to our water.’
The pair continued to debate what the ban meant for another minute, with the woman insisting the hose was connected to the house water supplies.
One amused follower said: ‘I do hope this was a skit.’
Another added: ‘Is this a joke? It can’t be genuine surely?’
‘The wildfires are as prevalent in semi-urban areas as they are in rural communities so it’s difficult to know where the next one will be.’
It comes as firefighters are tackling a village field fire in Leicestershire this afternoon as temperatures soar across the county.
Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service were called to reports of a ‘substantial fire involving crop’ in Sutton Cheney, north of Hinckley.
Crews were first alerted to the scene in Bosworth Road at 12.46pm yesterday and are still tackling the blaze.
People have been asked to avoid the area while the fire is dealt with. Leicestershire Police has also been called to the scene.
Meanwhile, London Fire Brigade said its control room had dealt with 340 grass, rubbish and open land fires during the first week of August – an eightfold increase on the 42 during the same week last year.
Assistant Commissioner Jonathan Smith said: ‘This summer has seen an unprecedented long, dry spell with high temperatures, so the grass in London is tinderbox dry and the smallest of sparks can start a blaze which could cause devastation.
‘Despite our continued warning over the last few weeks, we know there are still people who are barbecuing in parks, dropping cigarettes out of car windows and leaving rubbish lying around.
‘We really need to prevent a repeat of the situation we saw on July 19, when homes, shops, garages, outbuildings and vehicles were destroyed across London in a number of significant fires.
‘The professionals on the ground have been warning that these conditions are coming and we very much saw the reality of that in these last few weeks.
‘Firefighters have been injured, firefighters have ended up in hospital, we’ve seen families lose their homes, we’ve seen businesses lost, infrastructure burn to the ground, because we simply can’t get to these fires quick enough.
‘When we do, we simply don’t have the resources to deal with them adequately.’
Labour accused the Tories of putting ‘the smoke alarm on snooze’ as wildfires break out across the country, with ‘woeful’ resilience planning to the extreme heat.
And Riccardo la Torre, national officer of the Fire Brigades Union, accused the Government and fire chiefs of pressing ahead with cutting jobs.
He said firefighters were making ‘phenomenal’ efforts to deal with the outbreak of summer fires, claiming that fire services were unprepared for the crisis.
Climate change is making heatwaves more intense, frequent and likely – with July’s record temperatures of more than 40C for the first time for the UK made at least 10 times more likely because of global warming, and ‘virtually impossible’ without it, research shows.
Scientists also say droughts are becoming more likely due to human-driven climate change, warning of the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions and take steps to prepare the UK for the impacts of rising temperatures.
Mike Childs, head of research at Friends of the Earth, said the climate crisis was ‘hitting home’ this summer.
‘As another health-threatening heatwave hits the UK, rivers and reservoirs run dry and drought threatens our food and water supplies, a deepening cost of living crisis is set to leave millions more people unable to afford their energy bills,’ he said.
He said it was ‘utterly baffling’ the candidates were not grabbing green solutions, as he called for investment in the UK’s renewable potential and kicking starting an insulation programme to keep homes warm in winter and cool in summer.
Jonathan Smith, assistant commissioner at London Fire Brigade, has said ‘we’re not out of the woods as far as this heatwave is concerned’, as he urged people to avoid using disposable barbecues and take care when extinguishing cigarettes.
Mr Smith added: ‘We’re urging the public to think about and modify their behaviour over the course of the next four days in particular to take that pressure off the emergency services… we’re not out of the woods as far as this heatwave is concerned.’
Meanwhile, Met Office boss Paul Davies said the increasing heatwave temperatures may now occur once every five years – and annually by the end of the century.
He told The Mirror: ‘When I started out as a forecaster, if someone had said in your lifetime you’ll see 40 degrees, I’d have said; ‘No, surely not!’.
‘We are in uncharted waters. We’re entering areas we’ve never experienced before and it’s not just the UK, it’s the planet as a whole.’
An Oxfordshire village has also become the first in Britain to run dry, with residents forced to rely on deliveries of bottled and tanker water.
Northend, on the Buckinghamshire border, usually gets its water from the now dried-up Stokenchurch Reservoir.
Thames Water had to send water tankers and bottles to its residents, struggling after high demand on the natural resource in recent hot weeks.
The company has also recently announced it will be issuing a hosepipe ban for 15million customers across London, Surrey and Gloucestershire in the coming weeks.
A Thames Water spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘We’re sorry to customers in the Stokenchurch area who are experiencing lower pressure than normal due to technical issues with our Stokenchurch reservoir.
‘We have a team on site working hard to resolve this as soon as possible and the situation is improving and supplies have been restored to customers.
‘We’re using tankers to help boost supplies to customers in Northend to keep up water pressures for these customers so they do not see supply issues as well as delivering water bottles.
‘Customers may experience lower than normal pressure during periods of higher demand.
‘These times are typically in the morning and during the early evening.
‘We’ve also identified everyone in the affected area who has pre-registered with us as having special requirements, such as being medically reliant on water, so we can get in touch and make sure we give them the help and support they need.
‘We realise how inconvenient this is, especially during such hot weather, and appreciate customers’ patience as we work to resolve things’
Last night Andrew Sells, head of Natural England between 2014 and 2019, accused water companies of selling off reservoirs which could have helped ease drought to housing developers.
‘Several of our water companies preferred to build houses on some of their reservoirs, and last week we learned that together they have built precisely zero new reservoirs in the past 30 years’, he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
‘No doubt some reservoirs had reached the end of their working lives, but in abandoning this infrastructure, without any replacements, they have again put short-term profits ahead of long-term supply.’
The Met Office also predicted the extreme heat will become more commonplace in the coming years as global warming continues.
Professor Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading, said: ‘The warnings for extreme heat from both the Met Office and the heat health alert issued by the UK Health Security Agency are another reminder that this summer in the UK is proving to be lethally hot.
‘Compared to the July record-breaking heat, this event will be less intense but last longer, which could actually have a greater impact on people’s health.
‘This heatwave might not break any records for maximum temperatures, but it might actually cause more deaths.’
Climate change is making heatwaves more intense, frequent and likely, with last month’s record temperatures made at least 10 times more likely because of global warming and ‘virtually impossible’ without it, research shows.
Scientists also warn the likelihood of droughts occurring is becoming higher due to climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels and other human activities.
Government minister Paul Scully said it is ‘always sensible’ for people to conserve water, when asked about the possibility of a hosepipe ban for London.
He added: ‘But we’ll look carefully because the whole point about London and the South East is that the more development you have and the less rainfall there is, then obviously there’s less to go around and we’ve got to be careful.’