The recent cold weather which saw snowfall across almost all of the UK causing temperatures to drop as low as -15 degrees, has resulted in an increase in the number of burst pipes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Scottish Water has been taking four times the normal level of calls from their customers looking for help with burst pipes. The Northern Ireland Water company say that the thaw has seen a rise in the number of leaks being reported and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water received over 5,000 calls on Boxing Day alone, this compares with 50 calls they would take on a normal busy day.
The ABI (Association of British Insurers) have revealed that burst pipes are costing over £7m a day and insurance firms paid out £644million to homeowners claiming on home and landlord insurance policies last winter because of burst pipes. Water companies throughout Great Britain are urging shopkeepers, factory owners and landlords to check on any empty premises in case a pipe has burst.
Dŵr Cymru’s Mr Perry said, “A number of pipes had been damaged because they were not properly protected, these should be repaired or shut off as it puts a strain on our system. If you have anything in the roof, or anything in an unheated building, the chance is that it’s going to freeze or burst.”
Dŵr Cymru also says that bottled water will only be available to those customers who registered with the company as having special needs. They would normally send a water tanker to any area without water, but the exceptional circumstances at present means this can not be done because there are so many different areas all over Wales being affected.
In Northern Ireland the worst hit areas include Belfast and Coleraine, with Belfast City Council opening leisure centres in order to distribute drinking water. Some streets in Belfast have had no water for almost a week. Scottish Water are working flat out to help get water supplies back on after mains pipes burst and the company have drafted in extra resources to help with the huge impact the cold weather has had on the water network.