The British government has declared this Friday a state of drought in a dozen British territories with consequent restrictions on domestic and commercial water use for residents of those areas.

The affected areas include the southwest, south and central England and all of east England, namely: Devon, Cornwall, Solent, South Downs, Kent, south and north London, Herts, East Anglia, Thames region, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and the East region Midlands.

The UK government statement, picked up by the Sky News network, urged residents and businesses in the affected areas to be “very aware” of the current pressure on resources and called on them to consume water “wisely”.

“We are better prepared than ever for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to monitor the situation closely, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take additional action as needed,” said Secretary of Water Resources Steven Double.

Prohibition of hose use

The same Friday morning, Yorkshire Water Services Ltd. It is the fourth British company to ban the use of hoses for watering gardens or washing cars from 26 August. Yorkshire Water serves 5.4 million people and 140,000 businesses, according to its website.

However, the drought is not only impacting the UK, where temperatures above 35ºC this Friday are expected to return. Data from late July showed that 47% of EU countries were facing drought warning conditions and 17% were at alert levels, according to the European Drought Observatory.

Forest fires have erupted in France as it experienced its third heatwave and worst drought on record in its history. The German state weather service DWD has also warned that in some areas there is a very high risk of wildfires.