South East Water confirmed that the water shortage had hit the East Grinstead area today.
It said that the issue is unlikely to be resolved before the end of the weekend.
The company has set up two water stations in East Grinstead town centre where residents can collect free bottled water.
These are located at Sainsbury’s, on Brooklands Way, and Queensway Car Park, on Queen’s Road.
Both stations are open until 10pm tonight, and will reopen at 9am tomorrow. They will remain open until customer supplies are returned to normal.
However, people queueing to receive water at these stations has left the town centre gridlocked with traffic.
The congestion has been made worse by the fact a rail replacement bus service is operating all weekend between East Grinstead and Gatwick Airport.
Mims Davies, MP for East Grinstead and Uckfield, described the situation as the “worst case scenario”.
In a video posted on social media, she said: “It’s bedlam in East Grinstead this afternoon. The reality is, today is awful.
“It’s been the worst case scenario that we’re getting.”
💧 South East Water Update from Chequer Mead with East Grinstead Town Mayor, John Belsey 💧
📧 If you believe you should be on the PSR list (Priority Services Register), or have any issues – please do contact South East Water – community@southeastwater.co.uk or 0333 000 0365… pic.twitter.com/5G6SjC0KhX
— Mims Davies MP (@mimsdavies) January 10, 2026
It is also believed that the supply issues are affecting surrounding villages, such as Ashurst Wood, and parts of Uckfield.
Local business have been affected, such as The Railway pub in East Grinstead, which closed at 1pm on Saturday.
A Fun Run due to take place tomorrow morning with Olympic champion Kelly Holmes has also been cancelled.
South East Water said the issues resulted from the recent Storm Goretti, and were exacerbated by burst water mains on its network.
Steve Andrews, Head of Operations Control at South East Water, said: “We’re sorry to customers in the East Grinstead area who are experiencing either no water or low pressure today.
“Storm Goretti has affected our ability to treat the raw water at the normal rate at our main Sussex water treatment works.
“Coupled with the outbreak of burst water mains on our network due to the freeze/thaw conditions being experienced across Sussex, our drinking water storage levels in the East Grinstead area have now been exhausted.
“Regrettably, we do not expect water supplies to start to return to normal until the end of the weekend.
“Tankers have been deployed and we are delivering a supply of bottled water to our vulnerable customers in the area that have signed up to our Priority Services Register.”
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