With much of the UK suffering parched conditions, water companies are resorting to hosepipe bans to preserve supplies

11million customers of Southern, South East, Cambridge and Anglian Water, as well as Affinity Water, have been ordered not to use hosepipes, with threatened fines of up to £1,000.

Everyone should be ‘mindful of their water use’ amid the heatwave, an Environment Agency chief has said

With much of the UK suffering parched conditions, water companies are resorting to hosepipe bans to preserve supplies

The UK's biggest water supplier has become the sixth to confirm plans to prevent customers using a hosepipe due to the hot weather and lack of rainfall

The hosepipe ban will come into effect later this week

This year's heatwave has created a countrywide water shortage that looks set to only deepen over the next few days, and threatens to break grim records set decades ago