Latest news with #YorkshireWater
BBC News
a day ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Hosepipe ban remains despite heavy rainfall
A hosepipe ban will remain in force across Yorkshire despite recent heavy rainfall, the region's water company has ban, which stops people using hosepipes for activities such as watering the garden, washing the car or filling a paddling pool, was brought in amid an extended spell of very hot, dry weather across Kaye, from Yorkshire Water, said although rain at the weekend was "very welcome" it was "not going to improve things to a level where reservoir stocks recover".Previously, the company's chief executive said restrictions, which apply to customers across much of Yorkshire, parts of North Lincolnshire and parts of Derbyshire, were expected to remain until winter. When the hosepipe ban was announced earlier this month, Yorkshire Water said reservoir levels stood at just over 50% - a record low for the time of the year and "significantly below" the average for early July, which is nearer 80%.Mr Kaye said some parts of the region experienced more than 20mm of rain (0.8in) over Saturday and Sunday, which had helped slow the weekly decline of reservoirs. However, he added: "We've had five months of below long-term average rainfall in Yorkshire, so one weekend is not going to improve things to a level where reservoir stocks recover, as we continue to supply more than 1.2bn litres of water to customers every day."Crucially the rain has also replenished rivers and groundwater, meaning we can increase our abstraction from rivers and groundwater to reduce pressure on reservoirs.""Despite the rain over the weekend and early part of this week, the hosepipe restrictions remain in place in our region."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Three types of drought – and why there's no such thing as a global water crisis
Hosepipe bans have been announced in parts of England this summer. Following the driest spring in over a century, the Environment Agency has issued a medium drought risk warning, and Yorkshire Water will introduce restrictions starting Friday, 11 July. It's a familiar story: reduced rainfall, shrinking reservoirs and renewed calls for restraint: take shorter showers, avoid watering the lawn, turn off the tap while brushing your teeth. These appeals to personal responsibility reflect a broader way of thinking about water: that everyone, everywhere, is facing the same crisis, and that small individual actions are a meaningful response. But what if this narrative, familiar as it is, obscures more than it reveals? In my new book, Thirst: The global quest to solve the water crisis, I argue that the phrase 'global water crisis' may do more harm than good. It simplifies a complex global reality, collapsing vastly different situations into one seemingly shared emergency. While it evokes urgency, it conceals the very things that matter: the causes, politics and power dynamics that determine who gets water and who doesn't. What we call a single crisis is, in fact, many distinct ones. To see this clearly, we must move beyond the rhetoric of global scarcity and look closely at how drought plays out in different places. Consider the UK, the Horn of Africa, and Chile: three regions facing water stress in radically different ways. UK: a crisis of infrastructure Drought in the UK is rarely the result of absolute water scarcity. The country receives relatively consistent rainfall throughout the year. Even when droughts occur, the underlying issue is how water is managed, distributed and maintained. Roughly a fifth of treated water is lost through leaking pipes, some of them over a century old. At the same time, privatised water companies have come under growing scrutiny for failing to invest in infrastructure while paying billions in dividends to shareholders. So calls for households to use less water often strike a dissonant note. The UK's droughts are not just the product of climate variability. They are also shaped by policy decisions, regulatory failures and eroding public trust. Temporary scarcity becomes a recurring crisis due to the structures meant to manage it. Horn of Africa: survival and structural vulnerability In the Horn of Africa, drought is catastrophic. Since 2020, the region has endured five consecutive failed rainy seasons – the worst in four decades. More than 30 million people across Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya face food insecurity. Livelihoods have collapsed and millions of people have been displaced. Climate change is a driver, but so is politics. Armed conflict, weak governance and decades of underinvestment have left communities dangerously exposed. These vulnerabilities are rooted in longer histories of colonial exploitation and, more recently, the privatisation of essential services. Adaptation refers to how communities try to cope with changing climate conditions using the resources they have. Local efforts to adapt to drought (such as digging new wells, planting drought-resistant crop or rationing limited supplies) are often informal or underfunded. When prolonged droughts strike in places already facing poverty, conflict or weak governance, these coping strategies are rarely enough. Framing climate-induced drought as just another chapter in a global water crisis erases the specific conditions that make it so deadly. Chile: extraction and exclusion Chile's water crisis is often linked to drought. But the underlying issue is extraction. The country holds over half of the world's lithium reserves, a metal critical to electric vehicles and energy storage. Lithium is mined through an intensely water-consuming process in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, often on Indigenous land. Communities have seen water tables drop and wetlands disappear while receiving little benefit. Chile's water laws, introduced under the Pinochet regime, allow private companies to hold long-term rights regardless of environmental or social cost. Here, water scarcity is driven less by rainfall and more by law, ownership and global demand for renewable technologies. Framing Chile's situation as just another example of a global water crisis overlooks the deeper political and economic forces that shape how water is managed – and who gets to benefit from it. No single crisis, no single solution While drought is intensifying, its causes and consequences vary. In the UK, it's about infrastructure and governance. In the Horn of Africa, it's about historical injustice and systemic neglect. In Chile, it's about legal frameworks and resource extraction. Labelling this simply as a global water crisis oversimplifies the issue and steers attention away from the root causes. It promotes technical solutions while ignoring the political questions of who has access to water and who controls it. This approach often favours private companies and international organisations, sidelining local communities and institutions. Instead of holding power to account, it risks shifting responsibility without making meaningful changes to how power and resources are shared. In Thirst, I argue that the crisis of water is a cultural and political one. Who controls water, who profits from it, who bears the cost of its depletion: these are the defining questions of our time. And they cannot be answered with generalities. We don't need one big solution. We need many small, just ones. This article features a reference to a book that has been included for editorial reasons. If you click on one of the links to and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission. Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation's environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who've subscribed so far. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Filippo Menga does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Climate
- The Sun
Map reveals where hosepipe ban will come into force for millions today – despite storms bringing MONTH'S worth of rain
A HOSEPIPE ban affecting millions will come into force today, despite heavy downpours across the weekend. Scorching hot weather and extremely dry conditions this summer have led to a multitude of water companies implementing hosepipe bans, with anyone caught flouting the rules facing a £1,000 fine. Yorkshire Water, the first company to announce a ban, has had restrictions in place since July 11, with customers in much of Yorkshire, parts of north Lincolnshire and parts of Derbyshire banned from using hosepipes to water plants or wash cars. A ban affecting Kent and Sussex was then put in place on July 18, by South East Water. From today, July 21, one million people living in the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, face restrictions, as Southern Water's hosepipe ban begins. Restrictions will be brought in from 9 am, but other areas serviced by Southern Water, such as West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent won't be impacted. Southern Water managing director Tim McMahon apologised to customers and said: "Only by working together can we make sure there's enough water to go around for customers and the environment." And tomorrow, July 22, Swindon, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire will be placed under a ban by Thames Water. All four water companies have yet to confirm end dates for the bans. The restrictions have been put in place as the UK is battered with half a month's rainfall in 24 hours. The Met Office has forecast "heavy showers and thunderstorms" for today, with flooding and power cuts likely. Four weather warnings are in place across the country. Met Office issues SIX new warnings as thunderstorms, hail & flash floods to strike huge swathe of UK Much of the South East of England is covered by a yellow storm warning, covering large towns and cities such as Portsmouth, Brighton, and London. Another yellow warning is in place for the Midlands, North and most of Scotland. Half of Northern Ireland is either covered by a yellow warning or a more serious amber alert. Are there exemptions to the ban? Anyone found using a hosepipe during the ban will face a £1,000 fine. Full list of areas with hosepipe bans Yorkshire Water - a ban is in effect for all customers who get their water from the firm. Thames Water - a ban is taking effect in these postcodes: OX, GL, SN, RG4, RG8 and RG9 (Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Berkshire). South East Water - a ban is taking effect for households in Kent and Sussex, but not those in Surrey, Hampshire or Berkshire with the firm. Southern Water - Kent, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and East and West Sussex. However, there are some loopholes to the ban, for example, people are allowed to water newly laid turf for a restricted period, typically 28 days, to establish roots and prevent it from drying out. Or you can use a hosepipe for medical reasons such as if you need to fill a pool due to a disability or illness you have. Blue badge holders are typically exempt from bans, as well as gardeners using approved drip or trickle irrigation systems fitted with pressure-reducing valves. Anyone concerned about how their garden will cope during the ban should install a water butt, to collect rainwater in that can then be used for watering plants. You can also use old pasta water or bath water for your garden.
Metro
4 days ago
- Climate
- Metro
Amber warning for torrential rain and thunder issued as UK hit by downpours
The UK has woken up to heavy rain and rumblings of thunder as the Met Office releases amber and yellow weather warnings. All of London, Brighton and parts of Cambridge have been issued an amber alert with forecasters fearing torrential rain and flooding. The warning is in place from 4am to 11am today, with 20-40mm of rain expected too fall in an hour, and up to 70-100mm accumulating in just a few hours. Meanwhile the majority of England is under a yellow warning for thunderstorms until 9pm today. The wet weather is expected to lead to disruption such as road closures and power cuts. Parts of Scotland, including Edinburgh and Aberdeen, has been issued a separate yellow warning for rain from 4pm today until 12pm tomorrow. Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Andy Page, said: 'Intense rainfall will impact parts of the UK as thunderstorms move in from France. 'A range of severe weather warnings have been issued, including an Amber warning covering southeast England and London. The intense rainfall could lead to surface water flooding as well as frequent lightning and hail too. 'The situation is evolving, and warnings may be changed or added. This weekend is expected to be busy on the roads as more schools in England and Wales break up for the summer holidays, so it's important people keep up-to-date with the very latest forecast. 'There will be spells of more pleasant weather in parts of the UK through the weekend, with some sunny spells in between systems as they move through.' The wet weather is expected to continue all weekend, with widespread showers forecast on Sunday. The last Amber warning issued over London was for wind on 2 January 2024 when Storm Henk brought very strong winds across central parts of England and Wales. Wales, Cornwall, Merseyside, Devon, Somerset, Dorset and the Scottish border are forecast to avoid the worst of the stormy weather. The wet weather comes just in time as regions across the UK declare drought and enter into hosepipe bans. So far, South East Water and Yorkshire Water hosepipe bans are in effect, while Thames Water and Southern Water's bans will begin next week. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Banksy's manager reveals the central London building hiding his 'unseen' artwork MORE: Coward who murdered ex's 'gentle' dad in 'revenge' for break-up jailed for life MORE: 5 areas within commuting distance of London with prices under £400,000
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Britain's sewage crisis spirals after surge in number of serious pollution incidents
BRITAIN'S sewage crisis exploded last year with serious pollution incidents up by 60 per cent, damning stats reveal. There were 75 major incidents in 2024, up from 47 in 2023. Thames Water was behind 33 of last year's incidents, while Southern Water caused 15, and Yorkshire Water logged 13. It means the three firms caused 81 per cent of the most serious environmental damage. Environment Secretary He highlighted Labour's ban on bonuses for water bosses and a pledge of £104billion to upgrade failing sewage pipes. And on Monday, he will receive an independent review of the water industry, paving the way for root-and-branch reform. He is expected to promise to halve spills by 2030 and ensure bills do not spiral. Sources say he could even scrap watchdog Ofwat — which has been criticised for failing to hold firms to account. The Environment Agency report also revealed 2,801 total pollution incidents in 2024, up from 2,174 in 2023. Most read in The Sun Raw sewage floods street of iconic Scots golfing town 1 Britain's sewage crisis exploded last year with serious pollution incidents up by 60 per cent
