Southern Water's Temporary Use Ban took effect at 00:01 on Friday 10 July 2026 across its Hampshire and Isle of Wight supply area, about 1 million customers. It is the second year running for the region.
It does NOT apply to Sussex, which the company's managing director described as resilient after higher rainfall over the past year, and it does not apply to Kent customers either. Sussex customers are asked to use water carefully but face no legal restriction and no fine.
The stated cause is the River Test, which supplies most of the water used across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and which Southern Water describes as critically low.
One caution: an older page on Southern Water's site still surfaces in search results carrying an autumn 2025 message that "the hosepipe ban has now been lifted". That refers to the 2025 ban, which ran from 21 July 2025 and was lifted on 31 October 2025. The 2026 ban is separate and has not been lifted.