All of England’s southern and midlands regions could be suffering from severe water stress by 2040.

That’s according to research by Kingfisher, revealing that 12 out of the country’s 17 regions could be subject to the same fate unless critical action is taken.

Hotter, drier summers due to climate change is the cause of the problem – leading to tumultuous rainfall patterns and a strain on freshwater sources.

Water stress is when there is more demand than what’s available – and although no region in England is currently suffering from this, there are predictions based on Environment Agency data that this will be a threat by the end of this decade.

In the last five years, water use has increased by three litres per person each day, the study claims – which goes against the government’s aims for water reduction.

It wants to reduce household water use from an average of 144 litres each day to 110 litres by 2050.

Commenting on the findings, Kingfisher CEO Thierry Garnier, said: “As the impact of climate change becomes more apparent, measures such as hose pipe bans are set to become much more common, with increasingly strong measures needed to reduce demand.”