Where is there a hosepipe ban? Can I use my hosepipe in London and Yorkshire - why is there one and when does it end

This has led to Thames Water introducing a hosepipe ban affecting 1.1 million people across several postcode areas. The water firm said the measure would come into place across Swindon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire on 22 July due to a lack of rain and increasing demand, which had stretched supplies.

While the ban currently doesn't apply to London, Thames Water is asking everyone across the region it serves to be mindful of their water use. Thames Water said the temporary restriction would cover areas with postcodes beginning with OX, GL, SN, RG4, RG8 and RG9. The ban does not affect businesses where hosepipe use is part of their purpose - for example, garden centres and car washes.

Thames Water said prolonged hot weather meant there was less water available as well as a higher demand, with customers using up to 30% more water when temperatures were above 25C. Customers living in areas affected by the ban are asked not to use hosepipes, including for cleaning cars, watering gardens or allotments, filling paddling pools and swimming pools or cleaning windows.

It comes after a hosepipe ban has come into force across Yorkshire and is expected to last until winter. More than five million householders have been barred from using hosepipes for activities such as watering the garden, washing the car or filling a paddling pool.

Nicola Shaw, chief executive of Yorkshire Water, told BBC 5 Live: "I expect it to last until the winter as that is when the reservoirs will have recharged." Yorkshire Water said the region had experienced its driest and warmest spring on record, with only 15cm of rainfall between February and June - less than half of what would be expected in an average year. The company said the restrictions were needed to protect supplies in the face of more dry weather forecast in the coming weeks.