Drought - Its official!
DEFRA: Government activates plan to protect consumers as severe drought declared in parts of England. 16 Oct 2026.
A severe drought has been declared in parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex.
While customer supplies are uninterrupted, today's action follows an unprecedented period of extreme weather.
The Government has declared that specified areas have experienced their driest April to September in over a century, impacting reservoir levels.
While customer water supplies will be uninterrupted, declaring a severe drought ensures proactive steps are taken to safeguard water before any disruption occurs.
The Government is now taking measures to protect customer supplies in areas entering severe drought.
Ministers have instructing water companies to conduct daily monitoring of reservoir and river levels.
The Environment Agency is to increase compliance checks on businesses that withdraw water from natural sources to ensure they are only taking permitted quantities of water; and the commissioning of Local Resilience Forums will enable quick and effective development of support if required.
Alongside these steps, the Water Minister Emma Hardy has instructed the Environment Agency to prioritise protecting public water allowing water companies to keep more water in depleted reservoirs.
Environment Secretary, Dame Angela Eagle, said:
"We are working closely with water companies to protect public supplies and I urge everyone to think about how they can use water wisely over the coming weeks.
This morning’s announcement follows the latest meeting of the National Drought Group, which the Government has convened regularly since August to coordinate the response to unprecedented dry weather and hold organisations to account for their actions.
The expert group – which includes, Government, Regulators and the National Farmers’ Union, has again urged people to use water wisely to protect water supplies.
Environment Agency Chief Executive, Philip Duffy, said:
“We are also asking everyone to use less water. That will leave more in our rivers and the environment, helping farmers and protecting wildlife and nature.”
Good to know that the Government is taking things seriously as we enter the winter season!
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