Plumbers Join Met Office for Winter Campaign

With a flurry of snow forecast for large parts of the UK, water companies and plumbers have joined forces with the weather experts to remind people to get “winter ready” to stay safe and warm this season.

WaterSafe, the register for approved plumbing businesses, and UK water companies are supporting the Government’s Get Ready for Winter campaign, hosted by the Met Office.

Rosalie Fairbairn from the Met Office said: “People come to the Met Office website for weather so we want to provide more information about how to prepare for and react to it. The Get Ready for Winter campaign is about getting people to consider the winter preparations they can make now to help them stay warm, healthy and safe when winter weather arrives.

“It’s great to have WaterSafe and the UK’s water companies on board with this campaign and its important messages, not least around what everyone can do to keep their pipes from freezing and bursting and to prevent flooding.”

Julie Spinks, Director of WaterSafe, said: “We are delighted to be co-ordinating the water sector’s efforts around the Get Ready for Winter campaign.

“One key area of preparation homes and businesses can take is to make sure their property is wrapped up - cold temperatures can cause water inside pipes to freeze leading to bursts, floods and the misery of being without water for drinking, cooking and washing.”

There are lots of simple steps households can take to prepare for a cold winter and now is a great time to get ahead and make sure homes are snug:

• Wrap up pipes and water tanks with lagging – DIY stores have everything you need
• Fix dripping taps – even a small trickle can result in a frozen pipe
• Find your home’s stop tap and make sure you can turn it off – most are under the kitchen sink
• Leave the heating on low if you go away
• Check your central heating boiler has been serviced
• Keep the name of a plumber handy – type in your postcode at watersafe.org.uk to find your nearest accredited plumbing business.

Julie Spinks added: “If the worst happens and you do have a burst pipe, then turn off the water at the stop tap, allow the thawed water to escape through your tap as normal and call a plumber who is qualified to work with the drinking water in your home.”

Households looking for a trusted plumber to help them this winter are advised to use the online directory WaterSafe, which is backed by all water companies in the UK.

Winter tips and videos from WaterSafe plumbers can be found in WaterSafe's advice section.