What next for Yorkshire after end of hosepipe ban?

“We should not expect a hosepipe ban every year,” Mr Vinson said.

“What we’d expect is Yorkshire Water working with agencies, such as the Environment Agency, to devise their system so it’s a rare occurrence to have a hosepipe ban.”

However, Dr Klaar warned we could still start seeing the bans more often due to the climate changing.

“We call it ‘weather whiplash’, when we start seeing these really long dry periods followed by these really intense rainstorms,” she said.

“This is because our climate is warming and warmer air and a warmer climate means more water is being held in the atmosphere.

“So when it rains, we’re going to get these really intense rainstorms.”

Mr Kaye said he believed that despite climate change, long-term data suggested customers could get through 2026 without a ban.

“But I can’t say what the weather’s going to be like, or what the summer’s going to be like,” he said.

“We had eight months of dry weather. It was the driest weather on record, the warmest summer on record, and that’s a result of climate change.

“I can’t say what next year or 2027 is going to look like, but hopefully we’re in a good position, certainly to get through 2026.”