Rain will not stop hosepipe ban, say firms
Water companies under fire after weekend of heavy rain resulted in flooding and many cancelled events
Water companies have been criticised for pressing ahead with hosepipe bans despite widespread flooding which led to many outdoor events being cancelled. United Utilities said its hosepipe ban would still begin on Aug 5 in the North West even though there had been torrential rain in the region.
WATER companies have been criticised for pressing ahead with hosepipe bans despite widespread flooding which led to many outdoor events being cancelled.
United Utilities said its hosepipe ban would still begin on August 5 in the North West even though the torrential rain in the region meant the Saddleworth Moor and Winter’s Hill wildfires had been finally doused. In Dorset, downpours and gales forced organisers to cut short Camp Bestival, where headliners Simple Minds were due to close the event last night.
The organisers stated: “We are utterly devastated and heartbroken to say we have been advised by safety teams that we cannot reopen arenas due to the severe weather and the forecasting of continual high winds and rain.”
Katherine Jenkins, the classical singer, had to abandon the stage temporarily during a performance at Sennowe Park in Norfolk on Saturday night because of “horizontal” rain.
The Met Office confirmed a monitoring station at Belfast International Airport, which received nearly 4in (10cm) of rain, more than the average for the whole of July, leading Ryanair to cancel 20 flights. Residents in the Co Antrim village of Muckamore were evacuated due to flooding, with more than a foot of sludge at their front doors.
On the mainland, Wales saw the wettest of yesterday’s weather with 2in (5cm) falling in Capel Curig in the north.
Despite the deluges, water firms including Southern Water, Thames Water and Affinity Water, which serve London and many of the home counties, were still asking customers not to use hosepipes or sprinklers. United Utilities said it would implement a ban on Sunday, affecting seven million people.
As a result, the company’s Twitter feed received a hostile reaction. Kieran Lawton tweeted: “Hope you’ve put the plug in this time” – following criticism of the company for allowing a quarter of its water to flow away. Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, is to call in water company chiefs after figures showed that three billion litres of water were being lost annually through leaks.
Half the water companies in the UK missed water-reduction targets because of leaks, it emerged yesterday. Mr Gove said water firms “have much more to do to tackle leakage”.
Yesterday, images of Baitings Reservoir, owned by Yorkshire Water, showed water lapping the sides of the embankment while Blackstone Edge reservoir, owned by United Utilities, had significantly lower water levels despite its proximity. Yorkshire Water said it did not intend to impose a ban.
Despite the downpours, the heatwave will return with temperatures soaring past 86F (30C) by the weekend, said the Met Office. Steven Keates, a weather forecaster, said: “Summer is not over by any means.”
Meanwhile a girl aged six died after getting into difficulty in the water at a seaside resort. The girl, from Erith in Kent, was taken to hospital from Margate harbour on Saturday after emergency services, including the RNLI, were called. A spokesman for the South East Coast Ambulance Service said the girl was taken to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate and Kent Police confirmed yesterday that she had died.
The police said a report was being prepared for the coroner but added that there were “no suspicious circumstances”. One local man said the beach was “heaving” with tourists on what he described as a warm but windy day.
He said he saw rescue services “swarm” the harbour in efforts to save the girl. Her death is the latest in a number of incidents during the summer heatwave. In Bedfordshire, the body of a man in his late 20s was recovered from the Great Ouse and another man’s body was pulled from the Jubilee river in Slough, Berks.
On Friday a body was found by police in Warwickshire searching for a 17-year-old boy who disappeared after getting into difficulty in a quarry lake.
Meanwhile, the body of Ben Quartermaine, 15, missing since Thursday, was found near Clacton Pier in Essex.