A drought has been declared in north-west England as reservoir levels dwindle.
Hosepipe bans could follow, the Environment Agency said, though this is a matter for water companies, which have been directed to follow their drought plans.
Much of the rest of the country is in prolonged dry status, which is the step before drought, and without significant rainfall more areas could follow the north-west.
England had the driest period on record between February and April, and despite recent rainfall, rivers are at exceptionally low flows across the country and reservoir levels are declining.
United Utilities has particularly low reservoir levels: its Carlisle reservoir is at 46.4%,compared with the 92.5% it was at this time last year. The Haweswater and Thirlmere reservoirs are at 47.5%, compared with 94.8% last year. These are the reservoirs which serve areas including Cumbria and Manchester, in the drought area.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “The north-west of England has entered drought status due to low water levels in reservoirs and rivers. No other areas in England are in drought and we continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Climate breakdown will make droughts more likely, scientists have said, as rainfall becomes less predictable.
Richard Allan, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading, said: “The lack of rainfall across the UK in spring 2025 constituted a meteorological drought and this quickly depleted the soil’s moisture, leading to concerns over agricultural drought. Lowering river and reservoir levels are a concern for the north-west of the UK as further dry spells could threaten the supply of water as part of a hydrological drought.
“Droughts are expected to onset more rapidly and become more intense as the planet warms since the atmosphere’s thirst for water grows. A warming climate means moisture is more readily sapped from one region and blown into storm systems elsewhere, intensifying both wet and dry weather extremes with wilder swings between them. The only way to limit the increasing severity of wet and dry extremes is to rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors of society.”
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There have not been any major reservoirs built in England for more than 30 years, but the government has announced that it has approved two to begin construction.
The Guardian reported recently that to avert a drought there would need to be rainfall at levels last seen in 2012, when record-breaking deluges caused floods across the country. This does not look likely, with hot, dry weather ahead.
