Which areas currently have a hosepipe ban?

As of 11 October 2026, Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water, South Staffordshire Water, South West Water, Thames Water and Wessex Water have a hosepipe ban in force. The table above gives the area each one covers, the week of the Environment Agency list it rests on, and links to each company's own ban notices.

Is there a hosepipe ban in the UK?

There is no UK-wide hosepipe ban. Bans are imposed company by company: 9 of the 18 suppliers listed here have one in force as of 11 October 2026, and 0 have no status we could confirm.

What actually is a hosepipe ban?

A hosepipe ban is a Temporary Use Ban made by a water company under the Water Industry Act 1991. It restricts named uses of a hosepipe — watering a garden, filling a pool, cleaning a vehicle — for the customers that company supplies, and each company sets its own exceptions.

Is there a hosepipe ban in my area?

As of 11 October 2026, 9 of 18 UK water companies have a hosepipe ban in force, per Environment Agency (11 October 2026, read 11 October 2026).

Source: Environment Agency — dated 11 October 2026, read 11 October 2026

Status by supplier

Supplier	Status	Where it applies	Ban notices	What is restricted	Last confirmed	Source
Affinity Water	In force (Environment Agency list, week of 2–8 October 2026)	Affinity Water – Central and East regions, covering Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, and parts of London and Essex	—	—	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
Anglian Water	In force (Environment Agency list alone, week of 2–8 October 2026)Anglian Water's own hosepipe-ban page could not be read on 11 October 2026. This status is unchanged: a page we could not read never changes it.	Anglian Water – whole company area, excluding Hartlepool	—	—	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
Hafren Dyfrdwy	None in force	No hosepipe ban in force on 11 October 2026: Hafren Dyfrdwy's own page showed none, and a person checked that page before this record changed.	—	—	11 October 2026	Hafren Dyfrdwy
Northumbrian Water	In force (Environment Agency list, week of 2–8 October 2026)	Essex and Suffolk Water – whole company area	—	—	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
Portsmouth Water	None in force	No hosepipe ban in force. Portsmouth Water's own page reports none, and Environment Agency's national list of bans does not name Portsmouth Water.	—	—	11 October 2026	Portsmouth Water and Environment Agency
SES Water	None in force	No hosepipe ban in force on 11 October 2026: a person checked this before this record changed. SES Water's own page was not the evidence; the record cites www.gov.uk.	—	—	11 October 2026	www.gov.uk
South East Water	In force (Environment Agency list, week of 2–8 October 2026)	South East Water – whole company area	South East Water’s ban notices (each states its own area and dates): The Gazette, notice 5165638, The Gazette, notice 5178063	—	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
Southern Water	In force (Environment Agency list alone, week of 2–8 October 2026)Southern Water's own hosepipe-ban page could not be read on 11 October 2026. This status is unchanged: a page we could not read never changes it.	Southern Water – Hampshire and the Isle of Wight	Southern Water’s ban notices (each states its own area and dates): The Gazette, notice 5168153	—	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
South Staffordshire Water	In force (Environment Agency list, week of 2–8 October 2026)	Cambridge Water – whole company area	South Staffordshire Water’s ban notices (each states its own area and dates): The Gazette, notice 5173866	—	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
Severn Trent Water	None in force	No hosepipe ban in force. Severn Trent Water's own page reports none, and Environment Agency's national list of bans does not name Severn Trent Water.	—	—	11 October 2026	Severn Trent Water and Environment Agency
South West Water	In force (Environment Agency list, week of 2–8 October 2026)	Bristol Water – whole company area; South West Water – whole company area, excluding Bournemouth	South West Water’s ban notices (each states its own area and dates): The Gazette, notice 5187709, The Gazette, notice 5199529	—	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
Thames Water	In force (Environment Agency list, week of 2–8 October 2026)	Thames Water – whole company area	—	Water gardens, lawns or allotments, Fill paddling pools, swimming pools or hot tubs, Clean vehicles, patios, driveways, paths, walls, windows or outdoor surfaces	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
United Utilities	None in force	No hosepipe ban in force. United Utilities' own page reports none, and Environment Agency's national list of bans does not name United Utilities.	—	—	11 October 2026	United Utilities and Environment Agency
Dŵr Cymru	None in forceDŵr Cymru's own hosepipe-ban page is not read: the company's site refuses automated readers, so it is not asked. A page we do not read never changes this status.	No hosepipe ban in force on 11 October 2026: a person checked this before this record changed. Dŵr Cymru's own page was not the evidence; the record cites The Gazette.	—	—	11 October 2026	The Gazette
Wessex Water	In force (Environment Agency list alone, week of 2–8 October 2026)Wessex Water's own hosepipe-ban page is not read: the company's site refuses automated readers, so it is not asked. A page we do not read never changes this status.	Wessex Water – whole company area	—	watering a garden, cleaning a private motor vehicle, watering plants on domestic or other non-commercial premises, filling or maintaining a domestic swimming pool or paddling pool, drawing water for domestic recreational use, filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain, cleaning walls or windows of domestic premises, cleaning paths or patios, cleaning other artificial outdoor surfaces	11 October 2026	Environment Agency
Yorkshire Water	None in force	No hosepipe ban in force. Yorkshire Water's own page reports none, and Environment Agency's national list of bans does not name Yorkshire Water.	—	—	11 October 2026	Yorkshire Water and Environment Agency
Scottish Water	None in forceScottish Water's own hosepipe-ban page could not be read on 11 October 2026. This status is unchanged: a page we could not read never changes it.	No hosepipe ban in force on 27 September 2026: Scottish Water's own page showed none, and a person checked that page before this record changed.	—	—	27 September 2026	Scottish Water
Northern Ireland Water	None in force	No hosepipe ban in force on 27 September 2026: Northern Ireland Water's own page showed none, and a person checked that page before this record changed.	—	—	27 September 2026	Northern Ireland Water

Of the 18 suppliers listed above, 9 have a hosepipe ban in force, 9 have none in force and 0 have no confirmed status — we could not read one from their own source.

Check your own supply

What a temporary use ban actually is

A hosepipe ban is a Temporary Use Ban, made by a water company under the Water Industry Act 1991 rather than by a regulator or by government. That is why there is no single national ban and no single national rule: each company decides whether to impose one, which of its supply areas it covers, and when it starts.

It is also why the table above has a column for scope. A ban imposed by one company applies to the customers that company supplies, and supply areas do not follow county or city boundaries.

How this page is kept current

Three sources are read. The Environment Agency's weekly list of the temporary use bans in force in England is read every time the status is checked, and so is each company's own notice where the company's site lets us read it; some companies' sites refuse automated readers, and their pages are not asked. The statutory ban and removal notices water companies publish in The Gazette are read overnight, in the hours The Gazette's terms of use allow, so not on every check.

A ban is shown as in force when the Environment Agency's list names it, together with the week that list covers, and the company's own ban notices in The Gazette are linked beside it so you can read the area and the dates each one states. We do not print a start or end date of our own. Where a company's own page cannot be read — a challenge wall, a moved URL, a shell that renders nothing — the row says so and the status is left as it was.

A page that could not be read is never treated as a page saying there is no ban. That distinction is the reason this table has an unknown state at all, and it is the one thing a status tracker must not get wrong.

Frequently asked questions

Which areas currently have a hosepipe ban?: As of 11 October 2026, Affinity Water, Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water, South Staffordshire Water, South West Water, Thames Water and Wessex Water have a hosepipe ban in force. The table above gives the area each one covers, the week of the Environment Agency list it rests on, and links to each company's own ban notices.
Is there a hosepipe ban in the UK?: There is no UK-wide hosepipe ban. Bans are imposed company by company: 9 of the 18 suppliers listed here have one in force as of 11 October 2026, and 0 have no status we could confirm.
What actually is a hosepipe ban?: A hosepipe ban is a Temporary Use Ban made by a water company under the Water Industry Act 1991. It restricts named uses of a hosepipe — watering a garden, filling a pool, cleaning a vehicle — for the customers that company supplies, and each company sets its own exceptions.