Water companies have recorded a surge in the amount of water they have lost through leaky pipes this summer, while millions of households were subject to hosepipe bans and the threat of water rationing.
Firms have blamed the weather for the increase in leaks, admitting their “fragile” pipes have struggled with the dry ground and surge in demand.
Erica Popplewell, head of public affairs at River Action, said water companies were “gaslighting the public” by blaming worsening leaks on the weather.
The Reform MPs who face losing their seats according to new poll
Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman are among four Reform UK MPs who would lose their seats if a general election were held tomorrow, fresh polling by YouGov shows.
Falling behind the Tories
Tory defector Danny Kruger and Sarah Pochin – who beat Labour in a 2025 by-election – would also be unseated, according to the leading UK pollster’s first large-scale election modelling since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.
Although the party’s numbers of MPs would hugely increase, it would have fewer seats than the Tories overall, marking a significant fall when compared to last year’s polling.
How a Labour government could be formed
The poll predicts that Labour would be the biggest party in a hung parliament.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey recently ruled out forming a coalition with Reform or the Tories but stopped short of excluding a coalition with Labour.
However, to form a Parliamentary majority in this scenario, Burnham would also need to work with the SNP or Plaid Cymru.
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Reform expanding its operations
The polling comes as Reform is preparing a huge expansion of its operations around the country, targeting London, the South East, the South West and the East of England.
- Analysis of Reform job adverts by The i Paper suggests the party is pumping resources into areas where it wants to keep its high-profile Tory defectors.
There’s turmoil in the Liberal Democrats. And MPs are struggling for direction
Stagnant in the polls but still a potential kingmaker, the party’s at a crossroads – even its own members are asking what comes next.
Record number of assaults on Britain’s trains – what to know
Assaults on Britain’s railways have hit record levels, new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have revealed.
The numbers
The data published on Thursday showed there were 13,464 reported assaults on people who were not railway workers between April 2025 and March 2026, an increase of 36 per cent compared to the previous year.
- 11,289 assaults on rail workers on mainline networks were also recorded, an increase of 12 per cent. This included 6,390 incidents of verbal abuse, 2,487 physical assaults and 2,412 threats.
Working to make railways safer
No-one on the railway should be subjected to violence, threats or abuse. We’re working with industry and our trade union colleagues to address work-related violence and harassment, including through recent guidance which sets out what we expect from rail employers.
Richard Hines, ORR’s chief inspector railways
Walkers reveals three new crisp flavours
Three new “gold” flavours of Walkers are now available for crisp lovers. The new snacks mark the brand’s biggest revamp in 80 years.
What are the flavours and how much are they?
The new flavours are black truffle, sea salt and olive oil and Somerset mature cheddar and onion.
Each pack is branded as “Premium Potato Crisps”.
The crisps come in 140g bags and can currently be bought for £2 each.
Where you can buy them
The entire range launched on Ocado officially today, but from October 12, they will be widely available in major UK supermarkets for a cheaper price of £1.50.
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Almost a fifth of England’s water supply is currently lost to leaks and companies have strict targets to reduce their leakage by 50 per cent by 2050.
Overall leakage has been declining, but the majority of companies have failed to meet their targets and are now experiencing a surge in cracks and burst pipes.
Thames Water recently told the Environment Agency (EA) its leakage rate for one region it serves, encompassing Swindon and Oxfordshire, had increased to an average 82.16 million litres per day between March and August this year.
This is enough water to supply roughly 600,000 people and is the highest figure recorded in the region for this time period since at least 2019.
Thames Water told the regulator the increase in leakages was caused by “dry weather”, adding “the fragility of our assets means that the impact of weather conditions on our leakage levels is amplified”.
Dry weather causes soil to shrink and shift, putting pressure on underground pipes. This pressure is amplified during periods of high demand, such as heatwaves, when water companies must pump water through the network at higher volumes.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “”We are currently fixing more than 1,000 leaks every week and have increased frontline leakage resources. Overall leakage is more than 15 per cent lower than it was in 2019-20.”
South East Water has also reported an increase in leakages during the drought this summer.
In a report to the EA the firm said its leakage rate had increased “significantly” to 112.4 million litres per day, which is also blamed on “dry weather, ground movement, and a higher rate of water main bursts”.
Thousands of homes across Kent and Sussex have experienced disruptions to their water supply this summer as South East Water struggled to keep up with high demand during heatwaves.
Despite the surge in leaks over this summer, South East Water said it is still on track for a reduction in overall leakage this year.
A spokesperson said: “We have more teams than ever working hard to find and fix leaks. We spend around £60m a year on this important work.”
South West Water also said the hot and dry weather this summer was putting “additional stress on the network” as it reported 50 per cent more burst mains in July 2026 compared to July 2025.
The figures for all three companies were included in their applications to the EA for drought permits, which are a legal mechanism that can be activated when firms are concerned they could run out of water to supply homes in their region.
The permits typically allow for the suspension of environmental rules that determine how much water companies can take from rivers or boreholes to supply their local area.
They are the next step after hosepipe bans if these restrictions are not doing enough to reduce pressure on reservoirs.
Popplewell said households were being “told to use less water while companies admit their ageing infrastructure is failing”.
“Dry weather doesn’t explain away decades of underinvestment. It exposes them,” she said.
“Water companies lose almost two billion litres of treated drinking water every day through leakage. Yet this is an industry that, since privatisation in 1989, has failed to build a single reservoir.”