Last UK hosepipe ban ends, but worries still remain

After several months of record rainfall, hose pipe bans implemented during the winter over much of the UK have finally been withdrawn. It comes after two years of dry weather has been followed by torrential rain and broken records across the country.

Largely blamed on the location of the jet stream, the weather has been the main topic of conversation all year, from the dry winter to the beginning of spring, which led to the wettest April on record, the wettest May and June in a hundred years.

And despite messages in the winter saying that a few months of heavy rain would not solve the problem, most reservoirs across the country are now full, and groundwater levels in many areas are showing signs of recovery.

Yet it remains to be seen whether the lessons learned over the last few years, that we cannot continue to use our water resources in this current unsustainable way, has been damaged by this seemingly endless downpour. Veolia Water have at least issued a statement warning that water should still be used carefully and that they were still planning for a dry winter.

Groundwater levels are indeed improving, with the south and east moving from exceptionally low levels to normal levels and the west and north now with high to exceptionally high levels. High levels of abstraction could still cause shortage issues with a prolonged dry spell however.