Even with the wet weather at the end of the month, August鈥檚 rainfall was just 42% of its long-term average and the summer has been declared the hottest since records began in 1884. 聽聽
Five areas remain in drought, with more areas likely to declare drought status within the next few weeks, as groundwater and reservoir levels across England continue to recede.聽
A lack of rainfall has impacted harvests, navigation, and seen restrictions in the form of several hosepipe bans. 聽
It also has a significant impact on the breeding pattern of some animals, as well as peatlands drying out and at least 3,000 hectares of SSSI land (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) destroyed by wildfire.聽
Drought and flooding potential聽
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Will Lang, said:聽鈥淭he top five warmest UK summers on record have all occurred since 2000, with summer 2025 now officially the hottest. 聽
鈥淗igh pressure dominated throughout the season, bringing persistent warmth, below-average rainfall, and drought conditions for many areas. 聽
鈥淟ooking ahead, while the longer-range forecast suggests a trend towards wetter-than-average conditions, rainfall is expected to vary significantly across regions, with more rain expected to western and northern parts of the UK, while eastern and southern areas may remain drier. 聽聽
鈥淚mportantly, even with the overall signal for wetter weather, and the chance for flooding in some places, this does not guarantee that current drought conditions will ease consistently across the country. 聽聽
鈥淒rought conditions and the potential for flooding can occur at the same time in different parts of the UK, such is the nature of our climate.鈥� 聽
Current drought situation
At present, the EA areas in drought as of 15 September 2025 are:
- Cumbria and Lancashire
- Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire聽
- Yorkshire
- West and East Midlands
The drought status means that the EA and water companies will continue implementing the stages of their pre-agreed drought plans to manage the impacts.
These plans follow local factors including reservoir levels, demand and forecasts, and may lead to precautionary actions such as TUBs (Temporary Use Bans). Yorkshire Water has TUBs as well as parts of Thames Water, Southern Water and South East Water.
There are also the following areas in PDW (Prolonged Dry Weather) status as of 15 September 2025:聽
- Northeast
- Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire
- East Anglia
- Thames
- Wessex
- Solent and South Downs
Prolonged dry weather is an extended period of abnormally low rainfall that stresses water resources but hasn't yet reached drought threshold conditions. These can indicate areas at risk of drought without further significant rainfall.
They also can be in agricultural drought (one that see soil moisture in an area insufficient for crop need) before EA or water company drought status is declared.
More information on the current water situation can be found at: .
Working with abstractors
皇家华人continues to co-chair the National Drought Group sub-group for the agri鈥揺nvironment sectors. The group works with the EA to ensure challenges are understood and solutions developed where possible.
The EA continues to want to work with farmers, businesses, and other abstractors to manage water availability and ensure that they get the water they need to be resilient while maintaining protection of the environment.
The EA is urging abstractors to review their abstraction licences to ensure that these continue to meet abstractors' needs for long-term resilience.
Where abstractors do not have long-term resilience then they should look to implement alternative solutions such as:
- review cropping plans
- water efficiency
- developing new sustainable sources of water or providing winter storage.
There may also be scope for collaborating with others to share licensed volumes, if actions taken individually are insufficient to provide resilience.
We are encouraging abstractors to think about working together as a water abstractor group to help their future resilience and consider what options there might be for developing a shared water resource if multiple businesses are locally challenged to find water.
Read: Local resource option screening study funding 鈥� essential information to find out more.
For help and information for members facing issues with dry weather, visit our dry weather essential information page.
