As dry weather continues, three UK water companies have issued hosepipe bans. What do they mean and who do they affect?

Thames Water has announced a hosepipe ban will begin next Tuesday for customers across a large part of southern England. Customers in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, most of Wiltshire and some parts of Berkshire will be affected by the incoming ban, beginning next week.

Britain's Thames Water announced a temporary "hosepipe ban" on Monday, aimed at cutting water usage across large parts of southern England, following the country's driest and warmest spring in over a century.