Record-Breaking Heat Leaves Thousands in England Without Water

A record-breaking heatwave left thousands of households in southeast England without water or facing low pressure this week, as soaring demand after a dry spring exposed serious weaknesses in Britain’s aging water infrastructure.

The disruption affected more than 20,000 people at its peak, according to South East Water incident manager Matthew Dean. In the coastal town of Whitstable, around 8,000 people lost their water supply, forcing residents to queue for emergency water on Friday.

The outage came as Britain, like much of Europe, faced intense heat over the past week. The hot weather pushed up water demand, while well-below-average rainfall in March and April had already put pressure on some reservoirs, according to the Environment Agency.

South East Water apologized for the disruption and said exceptionally high temperatures had created very high demand. The company added that it was facing “low storage across our supply area,” despite preparing for hotter weather.

The company, which supplies drinking water to around 2.3 million customers, said it pumped 628 million liters on Wednesday. That was around 100 million liters above the seasonal average, showing how sharply demand had risen during the heatwave.

The crisis has also added to public anger over Britain’s privatized water companies, which have faced growing criticism in recent years over poor investment in water networks and regular sewage spills.

Britain, like France, recorded its hottest May day on record during the heatwave, with temperatures crossing 34 degrees Celsius, according to the national weather service.

Experts say dry periods followed by short spells of extreme heat are becoming more common as global temperatures rise. This makes it harder for water companies to balance supply and demand, especially when infrastructure is already under pressure.

Water Minister Emma Hardy said water companies must prepare for more frequent periods of extreme heat.

Britain’s independent Climate Change Committee has also warned that the country will face hotter and drier summers in the coming years. It said adaptation would require around £11 billion, or $14.76 billion, a year in investment.