Overview
- Stored water has reached 57.1% after recent rain, still far below the late‑October average of 74.2%.
- The household hosepipe ban introduced in July remains in force and will be lifted only once storage has sufficiently recovered.
- The Environment Agency has granted more than 30 drought permits, allowing extra river and groundwater abstraction to help keep reservoirs topping up.
- Yorkshire Water says it has hired 10 extra task teams and repaired over 11,000 leaks since April, completing fixes about 36% faster than usual as colder weather risks new bursts.
- The utility reports progress on a £406m mains replacement programme with 100km renewed, and says smart‑meter data prompted outreach to 2,800 homes, with claimed leakage cuts of 2.24 million litres per day.