North West England has officially entered a drought, the Environment Agency has said. The region entered drought status on 21 May because of low water levels in reservoirs and rivers, the agency said. The area has seen the third-lowest rainfall between February and April on record since 1871, while England as a whole has seen its driest period over those three months since 1929. It comes despite recent rainfall.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “Across the North West we officially entered drought status on 21 May due to low water levels in reservoirs and rivers. “Despite the rain over the weekend levels remain low and we are encouraging people to be aware of the impacts of drought as we enter the summer period.”
The spokesman added: “With further unsettled periods and rainfall over the coming weeks we will continue to closely monitor the situation and implement our North West Drought Plan.”
Britain faces “water rationing like we have in the Mediterranean” without new reservoirs, the water minister has warned.
Emma Hardy has suggested water shortages could hit households and businesses in the next decade if the Government fails to build new artificial lakes, as she unveiled plans to speed up the planning approvals process.
The Government has unveiled plans to legislate to bring reservoirs into the “nationally significant” planning category, giving ministers instead of local councils the final say on whether projects can go ahead.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed has also intervened to designate two projects as “nationally significant” in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire
Alastair Chisholm, director of policy and external affairs at the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, said:
“The drought in the north-west is not surprising given the dry weather seen across the spring. Drought can come on particularly quickly in areas which rely on water supplies fed by surface water storage reservoirs as are common in this area, rather than large rivers or groundwater sources.
“Prolonged dry weather is more unusual in such parts of the country, but when it does happen the effects are more pronounced. Conversely, with some rain, given more mountainous topography and higher average annual rainfall in these areas, reservoirs can quickly recover.
“Official declarations of drought signal that water companies and the Environment Agency will progress to more advanced stages in their drought plans, such as temporary use bans (colloquially known as hosepipe bans).”
It comes as the final four days of the sunniest UK spring on record could see temperatures of up to 27C.
Some 630 hours of sunshine were clocked up across the country between March 1 and May 27, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.
This beats the previous record of 626 hours set in 2020.
The season is forecast to close with warm but changeable weather.
England’s overall reservoir storage stood at 84% at the end of April, lower than at this time of year in the drought summer of 2022.
The Environment Agency has warned of a “medium” risk of drought in England this summer without sustained rainfall.
The regulator has said there are currently no hosepipe bans planned, but it warned water companies might have to implement measures including restrictions in the months ahead.
