UK Hosepipe Ban Tracker 2026 — Live Status by Water Company

Live 2026 hosepipe ban tracker for every UK water company. Kent and Hampshire bans explained, exemption rules quoted, and how to keep watering legally.

Is there a hosepipe ban in your area? As of mid-July 2026, five hosepipe bans are in force across England: South East Water (Kent, from 3 July), Southern Water (Hampshire & the Isle of Wight, from 10 July), Affinity Water (Home Counties & parts of London, from 10 July), Anglian Water (East of England, from 11 July — its first in a decade) and Cambridge Water (from 17 July — its first in about 30 years). Thames Water has urged restraint but announced no ban. Hand watering, water butts and timed drip irrigation remain legal everywhere — check the table below for your supplier.

Last updated: 19 July 2026. This page is a rolling tracker — we update it whenever a water company announces, extends or lifts a Temporary Use Ban (TUB). Bookmark it.

Live status by water company

Water company	Region served	2026 status	Since / notes
South East Water	Kent (Ashford, Maidstone, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks)	BAN ACTIVE	Announced 25 June, enforceable 00:01 on 3 July 2026. Kent supply area only.
Southern Water	Hampshire & Isle of Wight	BAN ACTIVE	Enforceable 00:01 on 10 July 2026. Driven by the River Test running about 25% below normal.
Affinity Water	Beds, Bucks, Essex, Herts, Surrey & parts of N/W London	BAN ACTIVE	Enforceable 10 July 2026 after demand rose about 20%.
Anglian Water	East of England (excl. Hartlepool)	BAN ACTIVE	Enforceable 01:01 on 11 July 2026 — its first hosepipe ban in about a decade.
Cambridge Water	Cambridge & surrounding area	BAN ACTIVE	Announced 9 July, enforceable 17 July 2026 — its first in about 30 years.
Thames Water	London & Thames Valley	No ban	Urged customers not to use hosepipes during heatwaves; no TUB announced.
Yorkshire Water	Yorkshire	No ban	Reservoirs at 84.5% (vs 61.5% a year ago); “zero expectation” of a ban in 2026.
Severn Trent	Midlands	No ban	No current plans announced.
South East Water (non-Kent)	Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire supply areas	No ban	“Monitoring closely”; Haywards Heath and Eastbourne zones at drought level 1.

Sources for every row are listed at the end of this page. If your supplier is not listed, it has made no 2026 restriction announcement that we can find.

What a hosepipe ban actually forbids

A Temporary Use Ban is made under section 76 of the Water Industry Act 1991. During a ban you may not use a hosepipe drawing mains water to water a garden or plants, wash a car, boat, patio or windows, or fill a pool, hot tub or ornamental fountain. Breaking it is a criminal offence with a fine of up to £1,000 — although South East Water says prosecution is “very much a last resort”.

An allotment legally counts as a “garden”, so allotment plots in any banned area are covered too. Our allotment watering guide covers compliant setups in detail.

What you can still do — the official exemptions

The good news is written into the water companies’ own rules. South East Water’s Kent FAQ states you may water your garden by hand with a bucket or watering can, and — importantly — that the restriction does not apply to stored rainwater: “You may also water your garden using greywater (i.e. from showers) or rainwater from a water butt through a hosepipe.”

On irrigation systems, the company is explicit:

“You might consider investing in drip or trickle irrigation watering systems, fitted with a pressure reducing valve and a timer, that are not handheld, that place water drip by drip directly onto the soil surface… These devices are not prohibited under the Temporary Use Ban because they are very water efficient.” — South East Water, Kent TUB FAQ, July 2026

And in its Q&A: “Does the restriction apply to irrigation systems?” — “Not if it is a drip fed system. In all other instances, yes it does.” Sprinklers and jet washers stay banned. We unpack the three conditions — pressure reducing valve, timer, not handheld — line by line in our drip irrigation exemption guide.

Regional fine print

• Kent (South East Water): newly laid turf may be watered with a hosepipe for 28 days after laying, but only outside peak hours (8–10am and 5–9pm) and only if laid before the ban started — keep proof of the date. Trees, whips and saplings planted within the last three years may be hose-watered where a can is impractical. Priority Services Register customers who cannot use a watering can are exempt.
• Hampshire & Isle of Wight (Southern Water): exemptions include Blue Badge holders and customers on the Priority Services Register or WaterSure tariff, plus animal-welfare uses such as topping up fish ponds. Check Southern Water’s page for the full legal notice.

How to keep a garden alive through the ban, legally

1. Switch beds and borders to timed drip. A drip line with a pressure reducing valve on a timed tap valve meets the quoted exemption wording. Set it for dawn, when evaporation is lowest.
2. Harvest and use rainwater. The ban does not apply to your water butt. A butt plus a small pump can feed a drip system — see the honest pressure numbers in our water butt compatibility test.
3. Automate the schedule rather than the guesswork. A four-zone controller such as the Johgee 4-Zone RF Smart Water Timer runs each bed on its own dawn schedule so nothing is over-watered — full specifications and current price are on the product page.
4. Log what you set up. If a neighbour reports hose use, being able to show a timed drip system with a PRV ends the conversation quickly.

Will more bans follow in 2026?

Five companies moved within a fortnight in July 2026 as heat and demand peaked. Kent’s ban was triggered by record demand (687 million litres on 24 June) rather than raw-water drought, which is why it arrived so fast; Affinity and Cambridge cited surging demand on top of a dry spring, while Southern’s was the slower River Test source problem. If the hot spell continues, the zones to watch next are South East Water’s Sussex areas and any Midlands supplier still holding off. We update the table above as announcements land.

Update log

• 19 July 2026 — Anglian (11 Jul), Affinity (10 Jul) and Cambridge (enforceable 17 Jul) bans added; five bans now active across England.
• 5 July 2026 — Page relaunched as a rolling tracker. Kent ban (3 July) and Hampshire/Isle of Wight ban (10 July) added with exemption quotes.

Have a question we haven’t covered — for example whether your specific setup is compliant? Check the FAQ hub or use the contact page and we will add it to the next update.

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