Six areas of England declared in severe drought as key reservoirs fall below 20%
Officials are moving to daily monitoring, but the environment secretary has yet to approve water companies' requests to restrict business use.
Parts of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex have moved into severe drought, with some reservoirs so low that public water supplies are under threat, Sandra Laville reported Thursday in The Guardian.
Ardingly reservoir, which serves about 95,000 properties around Haywards Heath and Uckfield, is 19% full, and Wimbleball, which supplies parts of Devon, Somerset and Dorset, is at 16%. The Environment Agency would normally expect storage of about 75% at this time of year.
Southeast and southwest England have had their driest April-to-September period in more than a century, fueled by climate change, after Britain's hottest summer on record. Water Minister Emma Hardy told the Environment Agency to put public supplies first where protecting them conflicts with environmental rules.
"This level of drought is something we have not experienced for decades," Environment Secretary Angela Eagle said after a meeting of the National Drought Group. She has not yet approved requests from South East Water, South West Water and Southern Water to ban non-essential water use by businesses such as golf clubs and car washes.
The government and the Environment Agency will now monitor reservoir and river levels daily and step up water quality checks, since lower flows dilute sewage less. "We cannot change the weather, but water companies can act now," said Philip Duffy, the agency's chief executive.
This brief is based on an article published Oct. 15, 2026, by Sandra Laville in The Guardian. Read the original: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/oct/15/severe-drought-declared-six-areas-england-public-water-supplies-threat
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
