This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Water companies have urged UK households to conserve supplies as the country continues to bask in a near record-breaking June heatwave that has caused train tracks to buckle after reaching temperatures approaching 50C.



The hot weather is likely to continue over the weekend with temperatures forecast to be in the high 20s.

Northern Ireland Water is introducing a hosepipe ban from this weekend to protect against interruptions to supplies. The company’s chief executive, Sara Venning, appealed to customers to halt non-essential use because hoses and sprinklers were putting a strain on supplies.

“In recent days our treatment works have been operating at near maximum levels with over 700m litres of water being put into the network, which is 25% more than is normal for this time of the year,” she said.

“Despite these steps, demand continues to outstrip supply. It would be our intention to introduce a formal hose pipe ban in an effort to protect the public against the increased threat of supply interruptions.”

Huge spikes in demand for water at morning and evening peak times mean utility companies are having to pump billions more litres of water into the system, and they say it is often being used by customers as fast as it is supplied.



Severn Trent is asking people to be “neighbourly” and use water carefully, while United Utilities and Anglian Water are among the other firms that have issued advice on cutting down water use.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution advised people heading to the coast this weekend to seek out life-guarded beaches and to always respect the water.

By July, 249 beaches will be staffed by a total of 1,500 RNLI lifeguards. Each year about 190 people die in UK and Irish waters, more than half of whom had not planned to enter the water.

On Thursday rail tracks near Carlisle station expanded and bent after reaching temperatures of 49C, which led to train stoppages. Speed restrictions in place elsewhere in the UK have caused delays to services.



The dry weather has forced some farmers to resort to desperate measures to keep their cattle alive. Guy Smith, the deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union, said his farm had not seen any rain in June and it was “getting to the point where rain won’t help”.

Andrew Webster, who runs a Jersey and Guernsey herd near Ashbourne, asked his water supplier, Severn Trent, to send a tanker for his 70 cows. He was offered only bottled water.