Around 45 million people – three-quarters of England – are now living in drought conditions after the country recorded its driest July since records began in 1836.
The National Drought Group said all areas of the country were facing water shortages – with farming, and the environment particularly impacted. Hose pipe bans are now affecting 27m people and some regions and now facing bans on washing cars, watering out door plants on commercial premises, and filling public swimming pools.
And the group, made up of water companies, the environment agency, the met office and government, and warned that conditions will get worse following a dry start to August.
Four new areas have moved into official drought status the government siad – the East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and Solent and the South Downs.
The North East and Yorkshire have moved into prolonged dry weather, the stage before drought, meaning no part of England now remains in normal status.
Water-use restrictions
Businesses such as car washes and swimming pools could have restrictions placed on their water usage as early as Tuesday after Southern Water, which covers Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, applied for a Non-Essential Use Ban – the next stage after a hose pipe ban. It would be the first time the measure has been used in 20 years.
A series of stark statistics from the National Drought Group showed that reservoir levels are at 69 per cent – 11.6 per cent lower than expected for the time of year, having dropped 16 per cent during July alone, the greatest such fall recorded for that month in at least 30 years.
The drought declarations come as a sixth heatwave of this summer builds. Heat health alerts were upgraded to amber across most of England on Monday, with temperatures forecast to reach up to 36C in the South East on Thursday.
Natural England reported 245 fires at sites of scientific interest so far this year while river temperatures are also unusually high.
These include a blaze in the New Forest that has spread across more than 100 hectares of heathland, with more than 120 firefighters tackling the fire and part of the A31 left with significant damage.
The Met Office currently rates wildfire risk across much of central and southern England as “exceptional” for Wednesday, the highest level on its severity index.
Earliest harvest in 20 years
Farming is among the sectors feeling the impact most acutely, with the losses raising the prospect of tighter supplies and higher costs further down the line. Farmers have reported their earliest harvests in 20 years, with reduced yields, and livestock farmers are already drawing on winter forage stocks because of poor grass growth.
Tony Grayling, strategic drought lead at the Environment Agency and chair of the National Drought Group, said conditions were “worsening and will continue to do so until we see significant and sustained rainfall.”
“We know the hot and dry weather is taking a real toll on farming and there will be long-lasting impacts on our environment,” he said. “We need everyone’s help in using a little less water to make sure our current water reserves last.”
Water minister Emma Hardy said the Government was “stepping up our support” for farmers, including making it easier to build on-site irrigation reservoirs, and was “delivering long-term change in the water industry to reduce leaks and deliver nine new reservoirs and water transfer schemes to secure supplies.”
Paul Tompkins, deputy president of the National Farmers’ Union, said the situation facing farmers and growers was “increasingly concerning” with no meaningful rain forecast in the coming weeks.
“Many farmers have completed the earliest harvest on record, with poor yields in key crops reported in some areas of the country,” he said. “Livestock and dairy farmers are already using winter feed because grass has stopped growing.”
And there is little relief in sight. Sarah Davies, head of environment and energy at the Met Office, said July had been “one of the most remarkable months in the UK’s climate record,” with England and Wales recording their driest and sunniest July on record.
Forecasts for the rest of August and into September suggested a good deal of dry weather was likely, she said, with “no strong signal for a sustained period of widespread rainfall.”
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