Issued by: Environment Agency

Drought announced due to low water levels in reservoirs and rivers in many parts of Yorkshire despite recent rainfall.

Yorkshire has today (Friday 9 October) officially entered drought status due to low water levels in reservoirs and rivers. This follows the declaration of prolonged dry weather for the area at the end of July due to a lack of spring and summer rainfall.

The region joins all of central, southern and eastern England in drought status while the North East and North West remain in prolonged dry weather.

The government and the Environment Agency continue to scrutinise water company actions and ensure they are adhering to their statutory drought plans to conserve supplies and support communities.

The National Drought Group, which includes the government, Met Office, regulators, water companies, farmers, Canal & River Trust, anglers, and conservation experts, is now meeting weekly to monitor the situation and coordinate action as part of the heightened incident response.

Recent rainfall not enough

Water Minister Emma Hardy said:

"The recent rainfall is not yet enough to replenish all the water we’ve used over the spring and summer, and the Yorkshire drought declaration highlights the situation is still serious.

"The Government is carefully monitoring the actions of all water companies, and expect them to follow their drought plans, quickly fix leaks, and reduce demand.

"Long-term resilience against our changing climate is a priority for this government. Our strengthened Water Bill will start a decade-long journey to a very different water system, including nine new major reservoirs to secure supplies.”

Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire Vicki Townend said:

"The Yorkshire area has had the 5th driest April to September on record. This ongoing lack of rainfall means the flow in rivers and groundwater levels in certain parts of our area are very low and have now reached our trigger for declaring a drought.

"Even if we receive a few weeks of rain, we cannot quickly reverse the effects of the lack of rainfall during a very dry spring and summer. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and implement our Yorkshire Drought Plan.

"As we see more impacts from climate change, heavier rainfall and drier summers will become more frequent. We encourage people to be aware of the impacts of drought and use a little less water to speed up the recovery from drought."

Three droughts in five years

Our climate is changing and the current drought now means there have been three in the past five years – 2022, 2025 and now 2026. As a result of climate change, we are experiencing longer hotter summers and more intense rainfall in winters, leading to an increased likelihood of drought and flooding events.

Droughts can happen at the same time as flooding. While droughts are caused by a shortage of available water due to low rainfall over a period of time, floods can happen with intense rainfall events during the same time.

The Environment Agency closely monitors both the risk of flooding and the risk of drought and is ready to respond to both ongoing drought conditions through its drought plans and any flooding incidents that may be experienced.

As well as enhanced monitoring and more checks on abstractors, the Environment Agency is quickly processing drought permit applications to allow water companies to reduce the amount of water they must provide into local rivers.

This means public water supplies are better protected, while also balancing the needs of the environment and local wildlife.

The Environment Agency is encouraging members of the public to report environmental incidents to its 24/7 hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

Notes to editors:

• Read more about droughts here: Understanding drought: applying science to protect people and nature – Environment Agency: For homes and habitats [https://tinyurl.com/2tkr3bw6].

• New research has shown it would take 120% of long-term average rainfall over the next seven months for all areas in England to be considered out of drought.

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