UK Water Firms Warned to Protect Supply as Drought Risks Worsen

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(Bloomberg) — The UK is urging water companies to protect supplies as the driest start to spring in 69 years threatens reservoir levels and river flows.

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The environment regulator held a meeting of the National Drought Group on Wednesday saying that with reservoirs at 84% full, there is now a medium risk of summer shortages, according to a statement. 

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Frequent and long-lasting high-pressure systems been a persistent feature of the UK’s spring this year, according to the UK Met Office. The weather pattern has blocked moisture-bearing clouds from moving in, which has led to record sunshine and a boom in solar energy. It’s another sign of the challenges that a changing climate brings.

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Europe has warmed twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, and climate change is making summers hotter and soils drier. The role of climate change in droughts — which can vary in intensity, location and duration — though is less clear, according to the UK Met Office.

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Farmers have had to start irrigating crops earlier and reservoir levels are either notably low or exceptionally low across the North East and North West of England. Both these regions have seen their driest start to the year since 1929, according to the Environment Agency. 

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No hosepipe bans are currently in place or planned but they could be enacted if conditions worsen, said Jane Wharton, a spokesperson for the Environment Agency.

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Total precipitation of about 245 millimeters from January through April was the lowest since 1964, according to Met Office data. During this period, the country also recorded the fewest days with measurable precipitation in nearly a century.

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Britain’s most recent shortages were in 2022 and rainfall has been lower this spring than the months that preceded that summer drought. Reservoirs levels are also lower, according to the Environment Agency. 

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The dry weather and flammable vegetation has already made 2025 the UK’s worst fire season in decades, according to estimates from the European satellite monitoring program Copernicus. Wildfires have been reported in Cumbria, Derbyshire and Dorset, according to the Environment Agency. 

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Similar high-pressure weather patterns have also lead to growing drought conditions across northern, central and eastern Europe, according to a late-April analysis from the Global Drought Observatory.

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The UK Met Office says there’s a chance for some unsettled conditions and heavy rainfall in the weeks ahead, but the long-term forecast shows long periods of hot, dry weather.

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