Water companies are urged to protect essential supplies ahead of a “probably very dry autumn” as the hot, arid summer continues to take its toll.
The UK is experiencing another heatwave, with a week of 30C temperatures predicted and highs of 35C or even 36C predicted in some places as the UK stifles a very hot weekend hot.
A Met Office amber warning for extreme heat comes into effect for parts of England and Wales from Thursday to Sunday, with high temperatures likely to affect health, transport and working conditions.
There is also a heat health alert from the UK Health Security Agency, with experts advising people to be careful of those who are older or have existing health conditions, as well as young children.
The Alzheimer’s Society urges families and caregivers to regularly monitor people with dementia to ensure they stay hydrated during the heatwave by leaving glasses or jugs of water close at hand, sharing a drink with them , leaving reminders to drink and providing foods with high water content. .
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said on Wednesday that temperatures had hit 30C quite widely across England and Wales.
The latest heat wave was not expected to produce the record high temperatures seen in July, when thermometers soared above 40C for the first time in the UK, but would still be notable – with some areas approaching their local records or regional – and long .
“We’re looking at a fairly prolonged period of warm weather, with a good seven days of temperatures around 30C in some places,” Mr Morgan said.
It comes as the first seven months of the year are the driest in decades and heat waves have left parts of the UK facing impending drought, prompting hosepipes and hosepipes to be banned. warnings about impact on agriculture, rivers and wildlife.
The latest analysis from the UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) has warned that low to exceptionally low river flows and groundwater levels are likely to continue over the next three months in southern Europe. England and Wales.
More than three inches of additional rain, on top of what would normally be expected, is needed to overcome dry conditions in parts of southern England, but there are no immediate signs of rain in the forecast.
Environment Secretary George Eustice met with chief executives of water companies, who he said had assured him that water supplies remained resilient across the country.
“Each company has a pre-agreed drought plan that they follow, and I have urged them to take all necessary precautionary measures to protect critical supplies as we enter what is likely to be a very dry autumn,” a- he declared.
Thames Water had to supply bottled water to residents of the village of Northend in Oxfordshire and pump water into the network, after the supply was cut off due to what it said was a problem technique at Stokenchurch Reservoir in the county.
The company later said it had managed to “improve the situation” and that all customers in the area should now have water, but warned that the pressure could be lower than normal.
It comes after the company, which supplies water to 15million customers across London and the Thames Valley, became the latest water company to signal it will ban garden hoses facing the hot and dry summer.
Three other water companies – South East, Southern and Welsh Water – have announced a ban on garden hoses for customers in the areas they supply.
The Angling Trust has called on water companies to ‘stop the foot-dragging’ and put in place watering bans in all affected areas and on the government to declare a drought, as rivers dry up, hitting fish and other wild animals.
Martin Salter, chief policy adviser at the Angling Trust, said: “Our rivers are drying up, fish and other wildlife are dying and not just in the small streams.
“Great rivers, like the Thames, are in pain and have now dried up to a length of five miles from its source for the first time.
“And yet, right now, millions of gallons of scarce water are wasted keeping golf courses and lawns green rather than helping rivers survive and protect our wildlife and our economy.”
He said water policy in the UK “has been a self-indulgent shambles for decades” and that the country should have been planning for population growth and climate change a generation ago.
The charity is calling on businesses to fix leaks, improve water efficiency in homes and build more tanks to create more storage.
Water companies have been criticized for banning garden hoses while leaking billions of liters of water a day from their networks and handing out high bonuses to executives.
Elsewhere, grass fires broke out as the heat and lack of rain dried up the countryside, parks and gardens, prompting people not to barbecue and a ban on disposable barbecues.
Climate change is making heat waves more intense, frequent and likely, with record high temperatures last month made at least 10 times more likely due to global warming and “virtually impossible” without it, according to the research.
Scientists also warn that the likelihood of droughts is increasing due to climate change, driven by greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities.
