Recent rainfall has helped Yorkshire’s reservoir levels rise for the seventh consecutive week, with overall stocks now standing at 57.1 per cent.
While Yorkshire Water says this marks continued recovery from the dry spring and summer, the figure remains well below the seasonal average of 74.2 per cent and a hosepipe ban will remain in place.
Dave Kaye, director of water services at Yorkshire Water, said: “Our reservoirs, groundwater sources and rivers are in recovery following the extremely dry weather we experienced in the spring and summer.
“However, stocks are still much lower than they should be for this time of year, and we need significant increases over the autumn and winter so that we are in a strong position heading into spring 2026.”
To aid recovery, Yorkshire Water continues to make use of drought permits and orders to draw more from rivers and groundwater, helping to preserve reservoir levels.
The company has also stepped up efforts to tackle leakage, hiring 10 additional task teams to find and fix leaks faster. Since April, Yorkshire Water has repaired more than 11,000 leaks and reduced leakage by 34 million litres per day.
Mr Kaye added: “We’ve been repairing leaks 36 per cent faster than usual, but we know there is more to do – especially as colder weather can cause more bursts.
“We’re bringing in extra colleagues and continuing our £406m mains replacement programme, which has already replaced 100km of water mains.”
Customers are being urged to continue saving water, using water butts to collect rainwater and checking homes for leaks.
Smart meter data has already helped Yorkshire Water identify 2,800 properties with leaks, saving an estimated 2.24 million litres a day.
The company said hosepipe restrictions would remain in place and would only be lifted once reservoir levels have sufficiently recovered.
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