Severe drought declared in six English regions; 80% of England affected

The Environment Agency has declared a severe drought across parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex, and West Sussex following months of exceptionally low rainfall and record summer heat. This declaration affects approximately 50 million people and means over 80% of England is now in drought conditions, following Yorkshire's entry into drought status the previous week.

Reservoir levels have fallen to critically low levels across the affected regions. Wimbleball Reservoir in Somerset stands at 14.9% capacity, while Ardingly in West Sussex is at 19.4% full. The Environment Agency classifies both as having exceptionally low levels. Other major reservoirs are also significantly depleted: Roadford in Devon (36.8%), Burrator (33.6%), Colliford in Cornwall (35%), and Stithians (21.9%). Normal reservoir capacity at this time of year is approximately 75%. Wimbleball serves around 300,000 properties across east Devon, north Devon, Somerset, west Dorset and West Somerset, while Ardingly supplies 280,000 customers across East and West Sussex.

The government has activated protective measures to safeguard water supplies, including daily monitoring of reservoir and river levels by water companies, strengthened water quality monitoring due to lower sewage dilution levels, and increased Environment Agency compliance checks on businesses abstracting water from natural sources. Local Resilience Forums have been activated to enable rapid response if additional support is needed. Water Minister Emma Hardy has instructed the Environment Agency to prioritise protecting public water supplies where unavoidable trade-offs arise between environmental rules and supply protection. The government has assured customers that household water supplies will not be interrupted.

The South East and South West regions experienced their driest April to September period in over a century, driven by record-breaking summer temperatures and severe heat waves between May and September. Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle stated that "this level of drought is something we have not experienced for decades." The government is pursuing long-term resilience measures, including £104 billion investment in water infrastructure upgrades and construction of nine new reservoirs across the country. Officials have urged the public to use water wisely, noting that small actions such as shorter showers, fixing leaks, and turning off taps while brushing teeth can meaningfully reduce demand on rivers and groundwater. The Environment Agency expects further dry weather through October, with some areas requiring 120% of normal six-month rainfall to prevent drought conditions from worsening.