英格兰和威尔士正陷入严重缺水危机。泰晤士水务公司于周二宣布，将从周四起对其覆盖伦敦及泰晤士河谷的1000多万客户实施禁用软管令 [1]。加上南东水务公司周一已对苏塞克斯、萨里、汉普郡和伯克郡的240万客户扩展的禁令，共计2300万人将受到限制 [1]。
降雨严重不足是危机根源。该地区春季降雨量仅为正常水平的40%，同时需水量却比正常高10%，其中泰晤士河谷及周边郡的用水需求增幅达10%，伦敦地区为7% [1]。每日需水增加了1亿升，相当于曼彻斯特整个城市的用水量 [1]。气象局首席气象学家Will Lang指出，7月降雨特别稀少，某些地点本月几乎没有下雨 [1]。
水文条件令人担忧。全国河流中仅13%水位处于该季节正常水平 [1]，国家水库储存量为78.8%，低于长期平均值约5% [1]。国家干旱小组表示，英格兰8个地区已进入"长期干旱天气"阶段，这是干旱状态前的一个阶段 [1]。极端干燥条件还引发了全国范围内53起野火 [1]。
Thames Water announced on Tuesday that it would impose a hosepipe ban on its more than 10 million customers, effective Thursday [1]. The measure affects London and the Thames Valley region and is the latest water restriction to be introduced across England and Wales [1].
This ban brings the total number of people affected by hosepipe restrictions to 23 million, as five other water companies have already implemented similar measures [1]. South East Water extended its ban to 2.4 million customers across Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire on Monday [1].
The restrictions come as the region faces severe water stress driven by unusually dry conditions. Spring rainfall in the Thames Water area reached only 40 percent of normal levels, while demand has increased 10 percent above typical consumption in the Thames Valley and surrounding counties, and 7 percent in London [1]. Daily water demand has surged by 100 million liters—equivalent to the entire city of Manchester's consumption—due to the heat and dry weather [1].
Water storage levels across the country stand at 78.8 percent of capacity, approximately 5 percent below long-term averages [1]. Only 13 percent of the nation's rivers are at seasonally normal water levels [1]. The National Drought Group has designated eight regions of England as being in a "prolonged dry weather" phase, the stage immediately preceding official drought status [1].
July has been particularly dry, with some locations recording almost no rainfall, according to the Met Office's Chief Meteorologist Will Lang [1]. The extreme conditions have also sparked 53 wildfires across the country [1].