Households face higher water bills during heatwaves as 15 companies around the country plan to introduce trials of surge pricing.
It comes after a series of heatwaves in the UK this summer, with temperatures soaring to nearly 35C on Friday.
Under the pilot schemes planned for the next five years, water costs will change depending on the time of year and demand.
Households use up to double the amount of water in hot weather. The average four-person family consumes 438 litres of water per day, according to Southern Water. To counter this, seasonal tariffs, such as a scheme planned by Anglian Water, will encourage customers to “reduce discretionary water usage” in summer. The trial scheme is planned for people using smart meters at 15 water companies, but could be rolled out to all customers, the Telegraph reported.
Ofwat, the industry regulator, said that the trials would increase prices “when water is scarce”.
It comes as households in Kent and Sussex were told they would be placed under a hosepipe ban next week. Yorkshire Water imposed restrictions from Friday.
Water levels have fallen at Baitings Reservoir in Ripponden, West Yorkshire
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES
Under the ban, households are being asked to stop watering their gardens and cleaning their cars and homes with a hosepipe. South East Water has now announced restrictions for Kent and Sussex from July 18.
The water company said demand for drinking water in the area had reached “record levels” for this time of year and with the ongoing warm and dry weather “we’re all using far more water than usual”.
South East Water is monitoring the situation in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire, following the UK’s warmest spring on record and the driest spring since 1893.
Water demand surged to the highest levels ever recorded for spring, reaching 680 million litres a day on June 30 — 105 million litres of water more than the average summer consumption, the company claimed. In real terms, that’s enough extra water to supply four extra towns the size of Eastbourne, or 100,000 extra people, South East Water said.
The company claimed raw water levels were so low that they had already surpassed the limits of its drought plan, and the shortage would “soon start to impact the environment”.
As the heatwave persisted throughout the country on Friday, amber heat alerts were issued across the south of England amid warnings of wildfires.
A parched Wimbledon Common in southwest London
AMER GHAZZAL/ALAMY LIVE NEWS
In London, more than 70 firefighters were called to a fire in Wanstead Flats. A special wildfire response vehicle was among those dispatched. This is the fourth wildfire that London Fire Brigade have dealt with this week and the 23rd this year.
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Health alerts for heat have also been upgraded to amber for large parts of England by the UK Health Security Agency.
Yellow alerts had been in place across England until Monday, but they were upgraded on Friday morning for the East and West Midlands, London, the east of England and the southeast and southwest.
Tourists headed to the beach at Durdle Door in Dorset on Thursday as temperatures rose across the south of England
BNPS
People jump into Clevedon Marine Lake in Somerset
BEN BIRCHALL/PA
The amber alerts are due to end at 9am on Monday.
Temperatures are forecast to reach up to 32C for the ladies’ Wimbledon finals on Saturday. Spectators have appealed for Centre Court’s roof to be closed to protect them from the heatwave.
Centre Court’s roof, used since 2009 to shield the court from rain, is only moved in dry conditions to keep the Royal Box in shade.
Iga Swiatek, who will play in the women’s final, said Wimbledon should consider closing the roof after play in her semi-final was halted when a spectator fell unwell. The Polish player said although the Championships are an outdoors tournament she was not sure why it would not close the roof to protect spectators.
A spectator fans herself during the semi-final between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz
ANDREW COULDRIDGE/REUTERS
Aryna Sabalenka, who lost her semi-final, gave an ice pack and water to a spectator who collapsed in 30C heat on Thursday. “I feel like London is not ready for this weather. It was super hot,” she said after the match. “I can’t even imagine sitting in one place and the sun just constantly hitting you.”
On the first day of the tournament, 34.2C was recorded. Over the first ten days the average temperature at 1pm has been 24.73C — the hottest since 2021. By late afternoon on Friday, the temperature had hit 32C.
Grahame Madge of the Met Office, said temperatures in southwest London on Saturday were expected to reach 30C, possibly 32C in some locations. The temperatures on Sunday could reach 30C or above.
The roof stayed open at Centre Court
JULIAN FINNEY/GETTY IMAGES
Helen Rushton, retired nursing adviser, and her partner Ewart Dawson, both 68, from Aberdeenshire, said when they attended Wimbledon on Friday: “I think the roof should definitely be shut if it’s too hot, for the players and the fans. If you’ve got the technology there, you might as well use it.”
Kevin Dawson, 57, from Cheltenham, said the failure to shut the roof added more delays to games, because spectators exposed to the sun often required medical attention. “The one thing we’ve noticed is that the treatment of fans has delayed matches,” he said. “With the extreme temperatures, you can be sitting there for several hours with the sun pumping down on you.”
Play was twice paused on Friday as spectators collapsed in the heat during the second set of the opening match between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz. Hundreds of people left their seats to escape the rising temperatures.
Evian, Wimbledon’s official supplier of bottled water, ran out of stock for the public and stopped selling its £5 refillable bottles.