Tens of thousands of homes across the south-east of England remain without water, with many residents warned that supplies may not be fully restored until at least Tuesday, according to South East Water (SEW).
In Sussex, around 16,500 households in East Grinstead are experiencing either no water or severely reduced pressure. Similar issues have been reported in Eastbourne and the nearby village of Upper Dicker, leaving residents struggling to meet basic daily needs.
Across Kent, an estimated 4,500 homes in Hollingbourne, Headcorn, Ulcombe, Kingswood and Sutton Vallance have been left without any water supply. Meanwhile, areas including Wrotham, Sevenoaks and the Loose area of Maidstone are dealing with low pressure or intermittent outages.
South East Water has issued an apology to customers affected by the widespread disruption, stating that bottled water deliveries are being prioritised for people listed on its priority services register, including elderly and vulnerable residents.
The company said the outages stem from multiple problems across its network. In East Grinstead, SEW blamed Storm Goretti combined with freezing temperatures, which caused damage to infrastructure and reduced system resilience.
In Eastbourne, the supplier attributed the shortages to what it described as “essential network changes”, while problems in the Hollingbourne area were linked to neighbouring water companies being unable to provide their usual bulk supplies of treated water.
To ease pressure on households, bottled water collection points have been established at several locations across the region. However, residents say the measures are inadequate and have led to severe congestion on local roads.
Long queues of vehicles were reported around East Grinstead, where drivers waited for extended periods to collect bottled water. Locals described gridlocked streets and confusion over where supplies could be accessed.
A resident from Forest Row, a village two miles south of East Grinstead, told the BBC that most of her community remained without water but had been instructed to travel into town to collect supplies.
She said roads around East Grinstead were “chaotic”, questioning why additional water stations had not been set up in surrounding villages also affected by the outage.
While she acknowledged that her 72-year-old sister had received a water delivery at home, she said a 92-year-old neighbour had received nothing, raising concerns about how effectively vulnerable residents were being supported.
“How are the elderly and those without cars expected to travel to East Grinstead to get water?” she asked, adding that two collection points were “woefully insufficient” given the scale of the crisis.
Following public criticism, SEW said it had adjusted its response. Steve Andrews, the company’s incident manager, said feedback had been taken on board regarding congestion at a bottled water station at Sainsbury’s on Brooklands Way.
He said the decision had been made not to reopen that site, instead directing residents to an alternative station at East Grinstead Sports Club. Another collection point remains available at the Queensway car park.
In Kent, bottled water stations have been set up at Tunbridge Wells Rugby Club and Headcorn Aerodrome in Ashford. SEW said additional monitoring is ongoing in other affected villages, including Stelling Minnis near Canterbury.
The company said thousands of customers in Tunbridge Wells, who have been without water since Tuesday, are expected to see supplies restored on Sunday.
Political pressure has continued to mount as the disruption drags on. Mims Davies, Conservative MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, described the situation as “the worst case scenario”.
She said she felt “extremely sorry and frustrated” for vulnerable residents, families with young children, livestock owners and businesses facing serious disruption.
At the national level, Mary Creagh, a minister at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, described the ongoing outages as “entirely unacceptable”.
She said she remained deeply concerned about supply failures across both the South East and South West following cold weather and Storm Goretti, adding that emergency meetings had been held to accelerate restoration efforts.
Creagh said priority was being given to vulnerable customers and essential public services as water companies work to stabilise their networks and prevent further prolonged outages.
