Major hosepipe ban update issued after heavy rain

Yorkshire Water has said its reservoirs are now less than half full despite heavy rain in much of the UK. The company enacted a hosepipe ban on July 11 after a period of extremely dry and hot weather. 

At the time, reservoir levels across Yorkshire stood at just 56% capacity, compared to a typical 82% for this time of year. Since then, water stocks have continued to decline, with the latest figures showing levels have dropped to below 50%, well below the seasonal average of 78%. Dave Kaye, director of water at Yorkshire Water, said the recent rain had been “very welcome” but was not enough to lift restrictions.

He explained: “The rainfall over the weekend was very welcome. It has the triple impact of reducing demand from our customers, providing relief for the environment and making its way into the region’s rivers and reservoirs.”

Kaye added that although some areas saw more than 20mm of rain, the region has endured five months of below-average rainfall and is still supplying over 1.2 billion litres of water daily.

“Some of the rain has made it to reservoirs, reducing the amount stocks fell over the week,” he said. 

“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 this, he made it clear that “the hosepipe restrictions remain in place in our region”.

Photos released by Yorkshire Water show just how low some of the reservoirs are. 

At Langsett Reservoir near Barnsley, much of the dried-out lakebed is visible around the shoreline.

At Riding Wood Reservoir near Holmfirth, the exposed stone bottom can clearly be seen. 

And at Scammonden Reservoir outside Huddersfield, the intake tower now sits well above the waterline.

Meanwhile, Baitings Reservoir near Ripponden appears to be almost completely dry.