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Current drought situation and prospects

Current drought situation and drought prospects for spring and summer 2012.

Current drought situation

Parts of East Anglia and South East England remain in drought with water company restrictions in place on public water use.  However, South West England, the Midlands and parts of Yorkshire are now no longer in official drought status due to recent rainfall and the fact that water company temporary use (hosepipe) bans in these areas will be very unlikely.

It has been the wettest April on record and the continuing rainfall in May has significantly increased river and reservoir levels, reducing pressure on the environment and public water supplies in some parts of England.

Drought prospects

This report gives an indication of drought prospects through spring and summer 2012. It also recommends some actions for water companies, farmers and other abstractors:

Water situation reports

We produce monthly water situation reports. During times of drought we produce weekly water situation reports. They are based on our, Met. Office and water company data. They provide information on rainfall, soil moisture deficit, river flows, groundwater levels and reservoir storage over the previous month.

Can you help?

Please help us by keeping a look out for problems such as fish gasping for air. Please report any concerns to our incident hotline 0800 80 70 60 (freephone, 24 hour service).

Tips on how to save water:

Managing public water use in a drought

Visit Defra’s website to find out about:

  • government policies and activities
  • the roles of key organisations
  • relevant legislation

For more details on drought management please download our report:

Current water use restrictions

Find out if there are any hosepipe and sprinkler bans, non-essential drought orders or spray irrigation restrictions in place. Read information on abstraction licence conditions. Find links to drought orders and drought permits information.