Startling images show low reservoir levels as hosepipe ban begins across the Pennines

Friday, 11 July 2025 16:42

By Chris Gee

Images taken this week show startlingly low water levels in reservoirs as Greater Manchester bakes in 30C heat and a hosepipe ban is introduced across the Pennines.

The pictures were taken at Yarrow Reservoir, between Bolton and Chorley, which is owned by United Utilities (UU). They show the receding depth and ‘baked banks’ with the water ‘almost at the level of the 2018 drought’.

This week, Yorkshire Water became the first major utility to declare a hosepipe ban, placing restrictions on activities such as watering the garden, cleaning cars and filling paddling pools across the region.

The ‘Pennine source’ reservoirs, which straddle the border between Greater Manchester and Lancashire, are currently at 45.9 pc capacity, according to UU data.

The average level for 2025 at the same sites has been 72.1pc. Present levels are 1.5 pc down in just a week and with temperatures set to reach 30C on Saturday and Sunday in the region there is no immediate end to the dry spell.

United Utilities have shared their verdict on whether a hosepipe ban could be enforced in Manchester over the coming days. A spokesman said that, despite the visual appearance of some reservoirs they were a long way from being empty and at present ‘we’re not currently considering a ban’.

He added: “With the rainfall we’ve had in the last month, we’ve seen our reservoir levels recover.” Some rain in June followed the driest spring for 132 years in England.

Long-term forecasts suggest drier than average conditions through much of July and possibly August too. That would further increase pressure on water stocks.

The spokesman, added: “We do always encourage customers to use water wisely.” Phil Taylor, who took the images, is a frequent visitor to the reservoirs in the Rivington and Anglezarke areas, where the pictures were taken on Thursday, July 10.

He said: “The region is officially in drought. “The reservoir is now almost at the level of the 2018 drought.

“The River Yarrow feeding it has reduced to a muddy trickle when I visited.”

The Yorkshire Water ban comes into into place today (Friday, June 11) and anyone found in breach of the demand could face fines of up to £1,000.
A drought was declared by the Environment Agency across Yorkshire in June, while the North West of England entered drought status in May.

The hosepipe ban in Yorkshire will remain in place until the region has seen ‘significant rainfall’. While Yorkshire Water said they will lift the restrictions as ‘soon as we are able’, the company’s director of water, Dave Kaye, warned that the embargo could last into the winter months.

People can still wash their car and water their gardens using tap water from a bucket or watering can during this period, while the region’s 139,000 businesses will be allowed to use a hosepipe if it is directly related to an essential commercial purpose.