No water company will give a date for lifting its hosepipe ban. Here is what it would take

Ten bans, and no date

Ten English water companies have a hosepipe ban in force, most since July: South East Water, Southern Water (Hampshire and the Isle of Wight only), Anglian Water (excluding Hartlepool), Affinity Water (Central and East regions), Cambridge Water, Thames Water, Essex & Suffolk Water, South West Water (excluding Bournemouth), Wessex Water and Bristol Water. The first came in July; the latest, Bristol Water’s, in late August.

October has started dry: England has had 10% of its usual October rain so far, the east and south-east 6%. The Environment Agency’s report for 2 to 8 October: “England storage was 54%, having fallen by 1.3%, and is now 21% below average for the time of year.”

No company gives a date for lifting its ban, or a rainfall figure that would. Our hosepipe-ban tracker follows the weekly report, company by company.

How dry it has been

September’s monthly report says east England has had “the driest March to September period since records began in 1871”, and the south-east “the driest 3-month July to September period since records began in 1871”. Eleven Environment Agency areas are in drought; Yorkshire was added on 9 October.

Nineteen reservoirs or reservoir groups are less than half full, eight of them exceptionally low: Abberton, Ardingly, Clatworthy, Colliford, the Dove Group, Hanningfield, the Pennines Group and Wimbleball. The agency’s supply concerns centre on Wimbleball, 18% on 4 October and now under a drought permit, and Ardingly, which serves 228,000 customers and was 22.8% full in South East Water’s 2 October update.

This is not England’s lowest. Storage ended September at 55%, 19% below the long-term average and lower than 2025’s 63%. But September 2022 ended at 49%, lower than now. Only east England is below its historic minimum for the end of September. Our drought tracker has each region.

What it would take: 120% of normal rain for seven months

On 16 September the National Drought Group said: “New research has shown we need 120% of typical rainfall over the next seven months for all areas to be considered out of drought.” In its most likely scenario, “By February, most places are back to normal”, but “Devon & Cornwall and East Anglia are expected to still be in drought by the start of April 2027”. There is “roughly a one-in-four chance that around half of the country will still be in drought next spring”.

The Environment Agency said in the same release: “A few weeks of rain cannot reverse the deficit we face from the very dry spring and summer.” The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology agrees: “Recovery, starting from a below-average baseline, will require above-average rainfall during autumn and winter.”

One distinction matters. Drought is a status the Environment Agency declares for an area; a hosepipe ban is each company’s own decision. A company can lift a ban while its area is still in drought, or keep one after. So the February figure is about drought status, not your ban.

What the companies say, in their own words

Essex & Suffolk Water, on its first ban since 1997, answered directly on 3 September: “There is no specific amount of rainfall that would allow the temporary use hosepipe ban to be lifted.” And: “This recovery process typically takes place over autumn and winter.”

Thames Water, updated on 12 October: “While recent rainfall is welcome, sustained rainfall is still needed before restrictions can be lifted.” Anglian Water, updated on 15 October: “a short period of rainfall just isn’t enough on its own to end the drought”; the ground needs “a long period of steady rainfall to recover”.

South East Water: “The restrictions are likely to remain in place until we are confident that water resources have recovered.” Wessex Water: “The ban will remain in place until our water resource position stabilises.” South West Water: “We will lift the restrictions as soon as we can.” And on 6 October: “In reality, recovery takes much longer.”

Some may widen before they lift. South East Water and South West Water applied this month for non-essential use bans, which South East Water says target “commercial and non-household water use”; Southern Water is awaiting a Secretary of State decision on applications it made on 31 July.

The outlook: wetter is more likely, and too early to call

The Met Office’s three-month outlook for October to December, issued on 28 September, says: “There is double the normal chance of this period being wet overall”. It links that to “An already unprecedented El Niño event”; this morning’s story covers what the last three giant El Niños did to Britain’s winters.

The same outlook says “drought-related pressures are likely to persist in some areas” and it is “too early to say whether rainfall this autumn and early winter will provide drought relief”. The next outlook is due on 26 October.

What to do

Check your company’s page for exactly what is covered; bans are by company and sometimes by area. Our guide to the rules has what you can and cannot do.

Rain is welcome, but it does not end a ban. Watch for your company’s announcement; Home Alerts covers your water company’s ban for your postcode.

A non-essential use ban, if one is granted, is aimed at commercial and non-household water use, not at homes. A water butt and a few days of stored drinking water are sensible anyway; collecting rainwater is allowed under a ban.