ANOTHER hosepipe ban has been announced in the UK as water companies struggle to fight off drought.

Millions more Brits will be forbidden to water their gardens and clean their cars with their hoses after yet another water supplier calls for desperate action.

Cornwall will be plunged into its first hosepipe ban in 26 years, when South West Water enforces the measures on August 23.

The restrictions next week will affect households across the county including areas of north Devon.

The water company has said it has "no other choice" in order to save supplies.

It joins the tough ban already put in place by Welsh Water, Southern Water and South East Water.

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Thames Water is also planning a ban in the coming weeks, while Yorkshire Water will introduce restrictions from August 26.

A spokesperson for South West Water said: "It's the first time in 26 years but we've been left with no other choice. We need to have a hosepipe ban now to protect our precious water.

"We've done our best to avoid this ban. We've increased the amount of water we can store, doubling it since the last drought in 1976.

"We've opened reservoirs, installed a new borehole, and improved the way we can move water across the region to help keep everyone's taps running."

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July was the driest on record since 1935, scorching grass areas across the UK, starting wildfires and drying up our reservoirs as a result.

Firefighters across the country have also had to deal with a string of wildfires on tinder-dry grassland and moors.

Crews battled blazes in Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, Derbyshire, Wiltshire and North Yorkshire.

Many areas reported the highest level of risk, according to the Met Office Fire Severity Index, with weeks of drought creating an “unprecedented” situation.

Dorset and Wiltshire said there had been a 429 per cent increase in wildfires in the first ten days of August compared to the same period last year.

Luckily downpours have been forecast for this week, but experts doubt this will be enough to replenish dry reservoirs and rivers.

"Hit-and-miss" thunderstorms are expected to bring "torrential downpours" to the UK as a yellow thunderstorm weather warning has been issuedby the Met Office.

The sudden showers could even cause flash floods as the dry ground struggles to absorb so much water so quickly.

Likewise, meteorologists fear the downpours may make little difference to the water shortage as it could be the “wrong sort of rain”.

The Environment Agency also claimed the drought could continue into next year as reservoir levels are so low amid the lengthy dry spell and record temperatures.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said of the forthcoming storms: “It will help a little but, to be honest really, it’s almost the wrong sort of rain. What we’re likely to see is some heavy, intense downpours.

“With the ground baked so dry, it’s very difficult for the ground to actually absorb the water very quickly.

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"So what tends to happen in these circumstances is the water runs off and we can potentially get some surface run-off issues, so some flash floods.”

Despite the national drought, there are some "crazy" hosepipe ban loopholes which Brits could use to work around the rules.

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