Millions more people are now affected by hosepipe bans after restrictions ordered by South East Water came into force on Friday.
Customers in Sussex in Kent can no longer use a hosepipe for activities including watering plants, washing their car, or filling a paddling pool.
They join customers of Yorkshire Water, which introduced a ban a week ago.
Southern Water has ordered a hosepipe ban to begin at 9am on Monday across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
On Tuesday, a ban will also come into force in a large area covered by Thames Water.
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You can check our interactive map to see which areas face bans and the date of enforcement.
Southern Water’s managing director, Tim McMahon, said: ‘Only by working together can we make sure there’s enough water to go around for customers and the environment.’
A spokesperson for Southern Water added: ‘The Environment Agency has declared the Solent and South Downs in “prolonged dry weather”.
‘We need to work together to protect precious chalk streams and keep taps flowing.’
The firm said it will remove the hosepipe ban ‘as soon as we can’, but this can only happen once its reservoirs, rivers and underground aquifers have refilled enough to meet demand.
Customers in the affected areas could face a £1,000 fine if they’re caught using their hosepipe unnecessarily – but Southern Water said they will ‘always’ remind people about restrictions before taking any action.
But hosepipe bans bring to light the number of leaks in Britain’s fragile water infrastructure, which cost customers £396million every year.
Many customers feel angry that they are asked to stop watering their garden or washing their car, when 19% of treated water is lost to leaks before it even comes out of the tap.
Southern Water has already placed a disclaimer on its website telling customers they will not receive a discount on their bills during the hosepipe ban period, saying the restrictions are in place to ‘help to protect local rivers and keep taps flowing this summer’.
The firm is one of several ordered last year to repay a total of £157million to customers after missing key targets on reducing pollution, leaks and supply interruptions.
More than 3billion litres of water were wasted every day in England and Wales between 2020 and 2023 due to leaky pipes, amounting to 1,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools a day.
But Mr McMahon says his team is ‘working 24/7’ to find and fix leaks.
He added: ‘We’re using a wide range of innovative solutions like drones, sensors and even sniffer dogs, and are ensuring that our pipes, reservoirs and water supply works are working as efficiently as possible – but sadly this is not enough.’
Thames Water announced a hosepipe ban on Monday while bans were announced by South West Water and Yorkshire Water earlier this week.
Millions more people across England will soon face hosepipe bans that come into force later this week or early next week.
Postcodes affected by Southern Water’s hosepipe ban
PO14/30/31/32/33/34/35/36/37/38/39/40/41
SO14/16/18/19/21/22/24/31/40/43/45/50/51/40/53
RG20/28/26/19/28
SP10/11/5
Reservoirs are drying up thanks to a long period of dry and hot weather, with the UK experiencing three heatwaves practically back-to-back after the hottest June on record.
Rain is forecast across the UK later this week, but this will only do so much to refill our reservoirs.
In Yorkshire, for example, reservoirs are only 53.8% full, far lower than the 80.9% average for this time of year.
Droughts have been declared so far in Cumbria and Lancashire, Yorkshire, the East and West Midlands, and Greater Manchester, Chester and Merseyside.
Plus the Environment Agency says much of the rest of England is experiencing ‘prolonged dry weather’, with only East Anglia, London, Kent and Cornwall experiencing normal rainfall levels recently.
Droughts are declared based on reservoir levels, river flows, and how dry the soil is – and back in May the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology warned many of the UK’s rivers had hit exceptionally low levels.
This has an impact on agriculture, as farmers have had to start watering their crops earlier rather than being able to rely on rainfall.
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