As some areas of the country are set to record their driest May on record, Brits have been warned to save water – but not to stop washing their hands in the fight against coronavirus.

The water industry trade body said there will not be a hosepipe ban after the Environment Agency (EA) confirmed on Thursday most water companies have ‘appropriate’ reserves.

The EA called for people to ‘use water wisely’ – but also said this should not deter anyone from regular hand-washing as advised by the government.

Just weeks after many parts of England and Wales were deluged with floodwater, the spring drought has seen gardens wilt, farmers fret over parched crops and reservoir levels drop.

The Met Office is predicting some regions, especially in the south of England, will record the lowest May rainfall figures on record when the final statistics are collated on Monday.

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But a spokesman for Water UK, the trade association representing water companies, said: ‘There are no plans for any hosepipe bans this summer.

‘It is always worth using water wisely, though, especially at the moment when people are spending more time at home. Taking a few simple steps to save water reduces the stress on the environment and the water network.’

An EA spokesman said: ‘We work closely with all water companies throughout the year to ensure their drought plans are up to date and activated as needed.

‘At this time, most companies across the country have appropriate water reserves for this time of year. While dry weather since late March has led to a decline in some reservoirs, this is not unusual during a hot and dry spell, and they can recover quickly when the rain returns.’

The EA said United Utilities, the company which supplies water to the North West, has applied for a drought order to take supplies from Ennerdale Water in the Lake District to sustain supplies in west Cumbria and, if the dry weather continues, it is likely that further actions will be needed across a larger part of the region.

South East Water has asked its customers ‘to help us by taking simple steps, such as not watering lawns, reusing paddling pool water and only using dishwashers and washing machines on full loads to help make sure there is enough water for everyone’.

The firm said it has been pumping an additional 78 million litres of water a day through its network and water being used on DIY projects and gardening has contributed to an additional 14% of water use.

Yorkshire Water said its reservoirs are lower than normal for the time of year and currently at around 75% full.

A spokesperson said: ‘We’re also seeing people use more water than they normally would. Life is very different at the moment and we’re spending more time at home and in our gardens watering plants, filling paddling pools and pressure washing outside areas.’

She said the firm has the ability to move water around its grid network to fulfil demand, but she also asked household to help conserve supplies.

NFU deputy president Stuart Roberts said: ‘Many farmers are already feeling the effects of a dry April and May with some cereal crops already suffering from this early dry spell.’

Mr Roberts said irrigators were working ‘flat out’ across the country and, although water availability was ‘generally good’ at the moment, reserves were being closely monitored.

He added: ‘It could shape up to be an extremely challenging season for farmers and growers.

‘Farmers are closely following predictions of possible hot, dry spells in the weeks ahead and what this could mean for water availability, especially with livestock now turned out to graze and harvest not far away.’

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said: ‘May has been exceptionally dry. Some regions are on track to have possibly the driest May on record.’

Mr Claydon said the official figures for May will be published next week but they are likely to be record breaking in some regions – especially in the south of England – but not for the UK as a whole.

Up to Tuesday, only 31.8mm of rain had fallen on average across the UK, and only 86mm had fallen on average in England since the beginning of March.

Forecasters said there is no significant rain expected in the next week, with an area of high pressure sitting to the east set to continue dominating the weather for at least the next week for all areas except the far north of Scotland, which will see some rain early next week.

Temperatures peaked at 26.3C at Heathrow Airport on Tuesday.

The highest temperature recorded so far this year is 28.2C at Santon Downham, Suffolk, on May 20.

But Mr Claydon said this mark could be broken on Friday somewhere around the Moray Firth, in northern Scotland, where the Foehn Effect will produce exceptionally warm conditions.

Meanwhile, the Yorkshire Dales National Park has issued a fire warning as the dry spell has left ‘tinder dry grass and moorland’.

Chief executive David Butterworth said: ‘Nobody should be lighting fires or barbecues in the countryside and everyone should be taking their litter home to reduce the instances of fire.’

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