Summer is still a couple of months away - but households in parts of the UK are already facing a hosepipe ban. With reservoir levels falling to their lowest record level in the West Country, the Environment Agency has placed Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly in drought status.
As reported in Devon Live, South West Water is to extend the "temporary use ban" already in place in Cornwall and parts of North Devon to other parts of Devon from next week, which means people will be banned from using a hosepipe to water their garden or wash their cars.
The water company says that restrictions are being introduced to protect supplies following lower than average levels of rainfall. It says that reservoirs recorded their lowest ever levels last year, with Roadford Lake in west Devon currently 27% lower than it was at the same time in 2022 - the equivalent to nearly 3,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
