Yorkshire Water said they can’t rule out another hosepipe ban although reservoir levels are "much higher" than they were last year.

Reservoir levels stand at 84.5 per cent, compared to 61.5 per cent this time last year.

It comes as South East Water announced a hosepipe ban for people living in Kent with immediate effect amid the latest heatwave.

In a video on Facebook, a Yorkshire Water spokesman said: “We can fully appreciate why some customers may be a bit worried about whether or not we will have to implement restrictions later on this year.

"What I would say, as I mentioned earlier, our levels this year are much, much healthier than they were this time in 2025 and that bodes well as we approach the summer.

“Obviously we can’t rule out restrictions altogether, but what I would say is that we are much healthier and the forecast is looking good.”

Water usage has also shot up and customers in Yorkshire are being encouraged to use water wisely.

On Tuesday demand hit 1.485 billion litres –150 million litres higher than the average for this time of year, with the extra being enough to supply a city the size of Leeds for a day.

South East Water said the ban is to ensure it can provide water to all its customers across the region as demand for drinking water has reached “very high levels” for June due to the spell of hot weather.

It comes after thousands of people in Kent were left without drinking water or experienced disruptions to their supply around the May bank holiday weekend heatwave as South East Water grappled with issues following the soaring heat.

The temporary hosepipe ban will be enforced from July 3 but the water firm is urging customers to abide by the restriction immediately.

It means customers will not be able to use hosepipes or sprinklers to water gardens, wash cars, patios and boats, and they will not be able to fill swimming and paddling pools.

The firm said it is producing more than an extra 100 million litres of water a day, the equivalent to supplying three towns the size of Maidstone, but that demand for drinking water needs to be reduced to avoid supply disruptions throughout the summer.

Last year, Yorkshire was in drought for six months until December, with a hosepipe ban in force over the same period.

The region had the longest hosepipe ban in the UK and at one point Yorkshire reservoirs had dropped to 30 per cent, while the Leeds canal was at a critically low level.