Thousands of UK homes could be without water on Christmas Day in ‘emergency’ caused by arctic blast

Thousands of UK homes could be without water on Christmas Day as a result of the recent arctic blast hitting the country over the past few weeks.
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Thousands of homes in the UK might be forced to prepare for a Christmas Day without water supply. The emergency comes after frozen pipes burst as a result of the recent arctic blast that hit the country.

Water companies are working hard to make sure customers are reconnected by the weekend. Though there is no guarantee that services will return by the time families sit down and tuck into their Christmas dinners on Sunday (December 25).

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Firms have said there has been a rapid thaw of frozen pipes that has led to an increased number of bursts and leaks underground. This has caused storage reservoir levels to plummet following the sub-zero temperatures.

It is largely affecting southern areas of the United Kingdom with around 10,000 homes in Sussex set to be without water alone. Emergency supplies of bottled water will continue to be distributed to affected regions.

South East Water has issued an official statement which insists workers are “committed” to getting customers currently without water in supply by Christmas Day. In an ideal situation they note this could be achieved sooner.

In southern parts of England, the firm confirmed there has been an increase of 300% in the amount of pipe bursts. Due to this more than 5,000 homes in the south east were without water as of Wednesday (December 21).

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In response to the water crisis, Southern Water said: “We are currently facing significant pressure on our water supply in parts of Hampshire, caused by a combination of factors including leaks resulting from the recent ‘freeze/thaw’ event. This has meant demand for water is outstripping the ability of our water treatment sites to keep taps running.

“We are working as hard as we can to solve this issue, tackling leaks and stabilising supply, but we must also make difficult decisions to reduce demand – in order to protect critical Hampshire infrastructure like hospitals. This is why we unfortunately have to restrict water supplies to some customers in parts of Hampshire, for a period of at least 48 hours.”

UK water companies that are affected have all apologised to its customers for the disruption caused. Teams are reportedly working hard on finding, fixing and repairing damaged pipes.

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