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1. Summary

A return to wetter conditions across most of England and the passage of Storm Benjamin across the south and east has seen river flows respond in many areas. However, flows remain low in some rivers in the east of the country. England received an average total of 20mm of rainfall over the past week.

Rain in September and October has helped improve some public water supply reservoir storage, particularly in parts of northern England. However, total reservoir stocks across England for the period ending 21 October were 62.1%, a decrease of 1.4% since the previous week with reservoir levels falling at over three-quarters of reservoirs or reservoir groups.

There is continued focus on the area of Sussex supplied by South East Water. Recent rainfall has seen a slight increase in levels at Ardingly Reservoir, however the reservoir remains very low. Temporary use bans (TUBs) are still in place with 4 water companies; Yorkshire Water and parts of Thames, Southern and South East Water. These restrictions may need to remain in place well into the winter until their water resources situation improves significantly.

Although recent rainfall has eased some pressure on agriculture, soils remain very dry in parts of eastern England meaning that concerns continue about winter reservoir refill for irrigation next year. The cooler and wetter conditions resulted in 66 hands off flow restrictions on abstraction licences being lifted in the last week (399 restrictions remain in force).

There was a slight increase in environmental incidents this week with 2 new reports of dry weather-related environmental incidents across the country.

There have been no notable changes to navigation restrictions on rivers and canals in the last week.

2. Area drought status

There have been no changes in area drought status this week:

2.1 Areas in drought

• Cumbria & Lancashire (CLA)
• Greater Manchester Merseyside & Cheshire (GMMC)
• Yorkshire (YOR)
• East Midlands (EMD)
• West Midlands (WMD)
• Plus parts of Sussex aligning with South East Water supply areas

2.2 Areas in Prolonged Dry Weather (PDW)

• North East (NEA)
• Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire (LNA)
• East Anglia (EAN)
• Thames (THM)
• Wessex (WSX)
• Solent and South Downs (SSD) – remaining parts of area not in drought status

2.3 How the stages of drought response work

Each Area regularly reviews its status based on the triggers in its drought plan.

Further detail of how we manage drought, including our 4 stages of drought response are available in section 4.2.1 of Drought: how it is managed in England.

3. Current water situation

The week to 21 October saw a return to wetter conditions across many parts of the country particularly across southern England and down the Pennines. It was drier across central and east England. England received a total an average of 20mm of rainfall. We have currently received 48% of the long term average (LTA) rainfall in October. For the month so far, it has been wettest in north east England where 64% of the LTA has been received, while across central and east England it has been drier having both received 42% LTA rainfall.

Soil moisture deficits (SMD) have recovered to near LTA levels for the time of year across the north and south-west England. In central and south-east England they are still recovering towards near LTA levels. However, in the east deficits are more than 100mm and yet to start a meaningful recovery, this is much drier than would be expected for this time of year. SMDs here are currently tracking October 2022 deficits.

Following last week’s rain across the country, river flows increased at almost all gauged sites. The number of sites that were classed as below normal or lower reduced to one-fifth of all sites, although in east England, one site is still classed as exceptionally low for the time of year (the River Lud in Lincolnshire). Thirty-six sites across England were classed as normal for the time of year.

Reservoir storage for the week to 21 October was 62.1%, having decreased 1.4%. Storage continued to decrease in more than three-quarters of reservoirs despite the rain. Yorkshire reservoir stocks increased by 1% to 54.9%. Fourteen reservoirs are now less than 50% full, including Ardingly, Clatworthy and Wimbleball which are all less than 30% full.

As would be expected at this time of year, groundwater levels continue to recede at sites across England. Chalk aquifers from the Wessex and South Downs to Yorkshire are now below normal or lower, including two sites classed as exceptionally low for the time of year. In the Chilterns, North Downs and parts of East Anglia, chalk aquifers are generally in their normal range. Limestone aquifers in east and south-east England are below normal or lower for the time of year.

More details are available in our water situation reports for England.

4.  Public Water Supply

Most water companies continue to follow their drought plans. Several water companies have seen their water resource situation stabilise from recent rainfall. Further significant rainfall is needed to return to normal conditions across many water companies. Concern for many water companies is now on the recovery of water resources over the autumn and winter if conditions are dry.

Water companies report their drought response using operational drought levels, from drought level 1 escalating to level 4.

Companies not included below are in business as usual (BAU) mode. We are regularly engaging with all companies and with Water UK on the situation.

4.1 Anglian Water

Anglian Water remains at drought level 1 in the following supply areas: Fenland, Lincolnshire Central, Norfolk Norwich and the Broads, Ruthamford Central, North, South, and West and Essex South. There is no significant change to its water resource position from last week.

4.2 Bristol Water

Bristol Water remains at drought level 2. Reservoir storage decline has slowed. The company is bringing sources back online to conserve storage. Demand is above average for the time of year.

4.3 Cambridge Water

Cambridge Water remains at drought level 1. There is no significant change to its water resource position from last week.

4.4 Essex and Suffolk Water

Essex and Suffolk Water remains at drought level 1 in its Essex and Northern Central supply areas. No significant change to water resource position from last week.

4.5 Northumbrian Water

Northumbrian Water remains at drought level 1. Reservoirs continue to decline over the past week.

4.6 SES Water

SES Water remains in drought level 1. There has been a decline in storage since last week.

4.7 Severn Trent Water

Severn Trent Water is in drought level 1 in its Strategic Grid North zone. The company is continuing leakage reduction activities and enhancing customer communications. Severn Trent Water applied for its Ambergate drought permit (Derbyshire River Derwent) on 22 October.

4.8 Southern Water

Southern Water remains at drought level 2 in its Isle of Wight supply area and Southampton West remains in drought level 1. The company implemented a TUB on 21 July for customers in these areas. Southern Water applied to Defra on 18 July for a drought order to alter its River Test abstraction licence conditions and included an application for a non-essential use drought order. Following recent rainfall, the drought order application was withdrawn on 3 October.

4.9 South East Water

South East Water remains in drought level 3 in its resource zones 2 and 3, due to low storage in Ardingly reservoir.

As of 22 October the reservoir is at 28% total capacity which is a small, but significant increase on the previous week. The company was granted its Ardingly winter drought permit on 22 September and applied for its River Ouse drought order to Defra on 10 October. South East Water implemented a TUB for customers in Kent and Sussex areas from the 18 July 2025 and removed exemptions from this ban on 17 October. The company is applying for a further drought order to restrict some uses of water by businesses. Examples of banned activities include watering outdoor plants on commercial premises, cleaning windows and filling swimming pools and ponds. The company states that it will only implement this if the drought worsens. The company is also reviewing and implementing additional options to bring water into the zone. For more details check the .

4.10 South Staffordshire Water

South Staffordshire Water remains at drought level 2. Blithfield reservoir has held at 43.9% since last week.

4.11 Thames Water

Thames Water remains at drought level 2 in its Swindon and Oxfordshire supply area (SWOX) and drought level 1 in its London zone. The company implemented a TUB for its SWOX customers on 22 July.

4.12 United Utilities

United Utilities remains in Enhanced Monitoring and Operations in its Strategic Grid supply area and is in business as usual in its Carlisle resource zone. The company’s Pennine reservoirs have stabilised and seeing increases in storage.

4.13 Wessex Water

Wessex Water remains at drought level 1b. There is no significant change to its water resource position from last week.

4.14 Yorkshire Water

Yorkshire Water remains in drought level 3. Reservoir storage has stabilised this week. Supply reservoirs total storage is 53.6%. The expectation is that once drought permits are implemented, this should assist the recovery in levels or slow any further decline. The company implemented a TUB on 11 July. We have now granted 44 drought permits to Yorkshire Water. The 2 Wharfe drought permits and the Ouse drought order were issued on 22 August. We have granted the south group drought permits (7 permits) on 5 September. The north-west group (12 permits) were granted 10 September. The south-west group, 17 permits have been granted, with the final 10 granted on 3 October. North Group (4 permits) were granted on 10 October. The last 2 North Group drought permit applications were granted on 16 October. For more details check the .

5. Agriculture

Rainfall in October has helped ease pressure on the agriculture sector but drier conditions continue across the east parts of the country.

There are currently 399 hands off flow restrictions in force on abstraction licences (down 66 from 465 last week), where river flows remain low. The number of hands-off flow restrictions will change at the start of November when summer licences expire and winter refill licences come into play. There are concerns about water availability for next year especially if we have a dry autumn and winter. This will affect the ability for farmers to replenish irrigation reservoirs, especially if groundwater and river flows remain low. We will be issuing a winter irrigation prospects report similar to the spring irrigation prospects to help farmers understand their refill potential.

Concerns remain heading into the winter on feed availability for livestock due to poor grass growth this summer and low-quality/quantity hay and straw, due to this year’s dry conditions.

We continue to engage and support the agriculture sector into the autumn and winter season. We have received 30 flexible abstraction requests to date. These help abstractors manage with the exceptionally dry weather.

We continue to proactively update our drought weather communications, detailing the current drought situation, support available to help farmers improve access to water and preparation for this winter. Our and webpage contain further information.

6. Energy

There are no known issues with the energy sector.  

7. Environment

There was a small increase in the numbers of confirmed environmental incidents caused by drought and dry weather this week; this continues the recent trend in response to the cooler, wetter weather for October. Total numbers for 2025 are now at 286 incidents.

Numbers of confirmed (category 1 to 3) abstraction or low flow incidents remain similar to corresponding counts from 2018 and 2020, and well below 2022 figures. Numbers of estimated and confirmed (category 1 to 3) abstraction or low flow incidents have continued the recent, more steady trend, with only 2 new reports this week.

The confirmed numbers of fish mortality incidents caused by drought and dry weather remain below corresponding counts from previous years. The increase in the number of estimated and confirmed (category 1 to 3) incidents with fish mortality remains gradual with 8 reported incidents over the last week. The need for fish rescues by Environment Agency Fisheries teams has reduced but monitoring of sites continues.

There were 86 days of River Severn Regulation this summer. Given increases to river flows at Bewdley, regulation ceased in September and further support from regulation releases to maintain the minimum prescribed flow are not anticipated for the rest of this year.

The Environment Agency has obtained two drought orders to protect the environment, both at Holme Styes reservoir, Holmfirth, Yorkshire (granted 28 July and 3 September).

8. Navigation

The gradually improving water resources situation for the Canal & River Trust network has seen further canals reopened recently, with key lock flights on the Oxford and Grand Union Canals now available for cruising, although with restricted opening hours to continue to conserve water resources where possible. Many of the Trust’s reservoirs have failed to show appreciable refill in recent weeks, and so unfortunately some canal closures are still in place across parts of the Trusts 2,000 mile network, although this is a much-improved picture overall compared with the summer situation. The Trust continues to monitor the situation and will reopen further canals as water levels improve. The latest  are listed on the Canal & River Trust website.

9. Weather forecast

In the aftermath of Storm Benjamin, it is expected to remain windy on Friday with localised showers across some areas. The weekend is likely to feel cooler with spells of sunshine with a weakening front crossing the country later Sunday evening and overnight. Monday and Tuesday are expected to be drier with a mix of light showers and sunshine.

10. Drought readiness actions

In response to the drought and dry weather, the Environment Agency continues to act by:

• operating our Gold command structure for our national incident response
• planning for potential continuation of dry weather into winter and spring using the latest drought prospects information from water companies and other sectors
• coordinating closely with water companies to implement statutory drought plans, taking necessary action to safeguard public water supplies
• activating drought plans for those Environment Agency Areas in drought and PDWÌý²õ³Ù²¹³Ù³Ü²õ
• enhancing abstraction licence compliance checks and issuing hands off flow or level restrictions and warnings to some abstractors in areas experiencing low flows
• monitoring, preparing and responding to incidents caused by low river flows, particularly in those Environment Agency Areas in drought status
• preparing dry weather advice to fishery operators to help protect their waters
• hosting regular national drought meetings

The next National Drought Group meeting is scheduled for 30 October.

11. Contact us

°ä´Ç²Ô³Ù²¹³¦³ÙÌýdrought.national@environment-agency.gov.uk if you have questions about this report.