© 2026
NPR News, Colorado Stories
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Power has been restored to the transmitter facility serving Summit County, and our programming is back on the air. Repairs at the site are ongoing, and listeners may experience intermittent service disruptions as our partners at Summit Public Radio and TV complete restoration work. We appreciate your patience.

Drought Means 20 Million People In England Can't Use Hoses

No hoses, please. (2006 file photo from Knutsford, England.)
Christopher Furlong
/
Getty Images
No hoses, please. (2006 file photo from Knutsford, England.)

The words "hosepipe ban" popped up in a lot of headlines today, and since we'd never seen that phrase before we wondered what was going on.

It turns out that 20 million people in south-east England, including London, have been told they can't use hoses to water their gardens, wash their cars, fill their pools, clean their patios and a variety of other things ( the BBC has a Q&A on what's allowed and not allowed).

Larry Miller, reporting for the NPR Newscast

If you get caught using a hose, "there's a $1,600 fine," Larry Miller tells our Newscast Desk.

According toThe Guardian, the region is suffering through "one of the worst droughts... since 1976 and [ the hosepipe ban] could last into the autumn, or even later."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

But watering cans are still OK. (2008 file photo from London.)
Chris Jackson / Getty Images
/
Getty Images
But watering cans are still OK. (2008 file photo from London.)

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
Related Content