The last four hosepipe bans in place in the UK, which impacted about six million customers , have finally been lifted.

A combination of heavy rainfall, long-term planning and reduced customer demand has enabled the lifting of all temporary usage bans (TUBs) in the south east of England. The four remaining companies with restrictions in place – Sutton & East Surrey, South East Water, Veolia South East and Veolia Central – have reported a significant improvement in groundwater supplies, allowing them to lift their usage bans with immediate effect.

Last month Anglian Water, Southern Water and Thames Water lifted their bans.

The announcement followed another weekend when parts of the UK were hit by further torrential rain. Although all severe flood warnings have now been removed, fourteen flood warnings and 86 flood alerts are still in place.

A combination of heavy rainfall, long-term planning and reduced customer demand has enabled the lifting of all temporary usage bans (TUBs) in the south east of England.

Nick Ellins, Drought Liaison Adviser at Water UK, the body which represents all the UK water and wastewater companies, said:

“Water companies have step-by-step water Drought Plans and long term water resources plans to ensure public supplies are protected, but the combination of this careful planning, incredible levels of customer support and unprecedented rainfall has enabled the restrictions to be lifted.”

As part of their statutory planning process, the water companies are continuing to develop a range of solutions to tackle the impact of the unprecedented weather conditions of the past 18 months – two dry winters, followed by extreme levels of rainfall.

Last month was the wettest June on record, but while surface water supplies like rivers and reservoirs were able to refill quite quickly, underground water supplies have taken longer to recharge.

The water companies will continue to monitor the situation carefully and are still not ruling out the possibility of a third dry winter – the period when the aquifers are normally expected to recharge.