Hot, dry and slightly anxious: the summer the taps got interesting

Author: Slightly Anxious       Date: 20th July 2026         Time to read: 10 minutes

Slightly Anxious is here to help you turn any crisis into a manageable adventure — for you and everyone you care about.

Britain has had three heatwaves so far this summer, and the country is starting to creak. Hosepipe bans now cover roughly 11 million of us: six water companies had temporary use bans in force by mid-July according to the Environment Agency’s latest drought report, with Welsh Water reported as a seventh from 19 July. That same EA report puts July rainfall at 3% of the long-term average, with reservoirs at 78.8%, about five points below where they should be. And wildfire risk across much of southern England is assessed as ‘exceptional’, with London’s raised to ‘extreme’ earlier this month. None of this is the apocalypse. All of it is worth ten minutes of your attention.

Here’s the thread that connects it: heat doesn’t just make the garden crispy. It draws down the water everyone shares, dries out the vegetation behind your fence, and puts extra strain on the people and systems that keep the lights on and the taps running. Being sensibly ahead of that isn’t paranoia. As of this month, it’s government policy: in the National Resilience Annual Statement on 14 July, the Government announced a national public awareness campaign, launching later this year, on the small but important steps households can take against emergencies that disrupt power, water, phone signal or the local shops. Press coverage of the announcement spelled out the checklist: long-life food, bottled water, essential medicines, a wind-up radio and a packed grab bag. When Whitehall catches up with your shopping list, you’re allowed a small moment of smugness.

The water situation, without the drama

A hosepipe ban is a nudge, not a crisis. The garden goes brown and recovers. But it’s also the visible edge of a genuinely dry year, and it’s the rare preparedness story you’re living in rather than watching on the news. Water companies told the EA that demand ran about 20% above normal over the heatwave weekend, and breaching a ban can cost you up to £1,000, which is a lot to pay for a green lawn. (Who’s banned where is tracked here.)

Sensible moves, none of them heroic:

• A water butt, if you have anywhere to put one — rainwater for the garden is exempt from the ban, free, and better for the plants anyway. When it eventually rains, you’ll be glad you were ready for it. Not the cheapest way to water a garden this month. Worth it by September.

• Stored drinking water indoors — our advice is enough for seven days, which at 10 litres per person per day comes to 70 litres each, and that is a good deal more than fits under the sink, so it needs somewhere sensible to live. Of that daily allowance about three litres is drinking water and the rest covers cooking and basic hygiene. Supermarket bottled water is fine; food-grade containers refilled from the tap are fine too. This isn’t for the hosepipe ban, it’s for the unglamorous scenario where a main bursts in August and the taps go off for a day. Read our article ‘What to do when the water has been turned off’.

• Grey-water habits — a washing-up bowl in the sink and the cooled water from cooking will keep pots alive through a ban. Your grandmother did this without calling it resilience.

Wildfire, for people with a semi and a privet hedge

Over 18,000 hectares have burnt across the UK this year according to figures compiled from fire services, and 65 of those fires were bigger than 30 hectares. On 12 July, Natural England assessed much of southern England and the south Midlands at ‘exceptional’ wildfire risk. This is no longer just an Australian story with better light. The London Fire Brigade’s advice after raising the capital’s risk level was pleasingly domestic: clear the dry vegetation.

So, the terraced-house version of firebreak management:

• Clear the dead, dry stuff from close to the house — browned shrubs, dried grass clippings, the pile of prunings you were going to deal with. If it would take a match well, it shouldn’t be touching your wall or fence.

• Retire the disposable barbecue — which remains the villain of the season. If you must cook outdoors, a proper barbecue on paving, watered ground around it, and a bucket nearby. On open grassland during a hot spell, just don’t.

• Know your five-minute exit — if you were ever asked to leave, what goes in the car? If the honest answer is ‘no idea, I’d run round the house panicking’, that’s what a grab bag is for, and the Government’s campaign will shortly publish its version of the packing list. Ours has been up for a while, and includes the pets. Read our articles ‘Slightly Anxious about approaching flames’, ‘Slightly Anxious says Get a Grab Bag’, and ‘Looking after your pets in an emergency’.

The heat itself

UKHSA amber heat-health alerts covered seven English regions from 14 to 17 July, and amber means the whole population is potentially at risk, not just the obviously vulnerable. The boring, effective checklist: keep medicines that need it below 25°C (the fridge is fine for most, check the leaflet); keep the fridge and freezer closed and full, a full freezer holds its temperature far longer in a power cut; curtains closed on the sunny side during the day, windows open once the outside air is cooler than the inside; and check on the neighbour or relative who’d never dream of bothering anyone. Heatwave four is plausible before the summer is out. Being ready for it costs almost nothing. Read our article ‘What to do when the heating stops’ which also looks at keeping cool in an emergency.

The point

The connecting logic of this whole summer is that resilience is stacked: the same grab bag serves the wildfire evacuation and the burst main; the same stored water serves the outage and the heatwave; the same wind-up radio serves every scenario the Government’s new campaign is about to describe to you. You don’t need a bunker. You need a shelf. Most of it you can sort this weekend, and then you can go back to enjoying the sunshine, slightly anxious, sensibly prepared.

Remember, keep calm and visit us here.

Sources

• National Resilience Annual Statement, Hansard, 14 July 2026 (verified)

• Environment Agency, Dry weather and drought in England, 10–16 July 2026 (verified)

• Water Industry Hub, UK hosepipe ban tracker, summer 2026

• UKHSA weather-health alerts dashboard

• 2026 United Kingdom wildfires (compiled figures, citing fire services)

This blog post has been AI-assisted with human oversight