Thousands of homes without water on Christmas Day

Residents rely on bottled water on Bank Holiday weekend

Around 5,000 homes in Scotland left without water on Christmas Day (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Around 5,000 houses in west Scotland were left without water on Christmas Day, with many still facing shortages on Boxing Day.

The cause of the problem afflicting houses in East Renfrewshire was said to be an “operational issue” at Picketlaw Water Treatment Works.

Scottish Water said the fault was fixed however, people in the Newton Mearns, Giffnock, Thornliebank and Clarkston areas may only have “intermittent” water today.

Local schools set up bottled water collection points for those impacted.

One affected resident from Newton Mearns has five people in the household.

He told BBC Scotland that his water was cut off at 7.30pm on Christmas Day and was still not back at 11am on Boxing Day.

“Nobody can have a shower, there’s no drinking water from the tap and nobody can use the toilets,” he said.

Residents in East Renfrewshire were left without water on Christmas Day (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “The network will continue to recover throughout the day. For those customers that do experience an issue, we have arranged for a bottled water collection point at Williamwood High School on Eaglesham Road and St Clare’s Primary School on Waterfoot Road. St Clare’s Primary School on Waterfoot Road will be in operation from 12pm.

“We sincerely apologise to those customers who have been impacted by this issue and we thank you for your patience and understanding. Our teams will continue to work until this is fully resolved.”

It comes as hundreds of households in the southeast of England struggled without water for at least five days in the run-up the festive period.

Following the deep blast of Arctic air that blanketed the UK in snow and ice earlier in the month, temperatures shot up by almost 20C in some areas as we entered the final week of Advent – with the rapid thaw wreaking havoc on the water network due to a surge in burst pipes.

As a result, northwards of 40,000 properties in Kent, Sussex, Hertforshire and Essex were estimated to have lost access to water at the start of the week.