Shops have launched a clampdown on the panic-buying of water with limits in place as temperatures get set to soar to 37C this weekend.
Eight areas of England are formally in a drought due to searing heat and low rainfall.
Some supermarkets were already reporting excessive buying of water, with one Aldi store in London informing customers they are limiting them to between three and five bottles each.
An Aldi spokesperson told Mirror Online they have not been advised to put a nationwide limit in place and confirmed the limits have now been lifted.
An amber weather warning for extreme heat from the Met Office is in place for much of England and Wales until Sunday, with thunderstorms expected to hit next week.
The decision to ration water in some places came after the Government insisted that there will be no repeat of household taps going dry, like in 1976.
"All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe," Water Minister Steve Double said.
"We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed".
It is the first drought declared in the UK since 2018.
Despite storms expected to bring the heatwave to a sudden end early next week, much of southern England is unlikely to see significant rain until September.
Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent, south London and East Sussex, Hertfordshire and north London, East Anglia, Thames, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, and the East Midlands are all in drought, according to the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Members of the public and businesses in affected areas are being urged to use water wisely.
A drought is a prolonged period of water shortage, which occurs after long stretches of little or no rain.
"All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe," Water Minister Steve Double said in a statement.
"We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed."
By this afternoon, temperatures will soar as high as 35C in southern areas of the UK, which will be hotter than the Bahamas, Jamaica and Barbados.
It will get even hotter on Saturday, with up to 37C expected.
Yorkshire Water is the latest to bring in a hosepipe ban - taking the decision for the first time in 27 years, affecting five million customers.
The ban comes into force on August 26, and those caught flouting it face fines of up to £1,000.
Yorkshire Water said its reservoir levels fell below 50 per cent for the first time since the drought of 1995.
It added it would take months of rainfall to replenish.
Thames Water is set to announce a temporary hosepipe ban "in the coming weeks" due to the long-term forecast of dry weather.
This week fires broke out in different areas, including London, Essex, Gloucestershire, Surrey, and Cheshire.
DEFRA said today: "Essential supplies of water are safe. Water companies have a duty to ensure these supplies and have reassured regulators and Government that they will remain resilient across the country.
"Defra and the Environment Agency are urging water companies to continue with their precautionary planning to protect essential supplies in the event of a dry Autumn."
