Yorkshire enters drought status as water levels drop

Yorkshire has officially entered drought status, the Environment Agency has confirmed.

The declaration was made today (Friday 9th October), after low water levels were recorded in reservoirs and rivers across many parts of the region.

It follows a declaration of prolonged dry weather for the area at the end of July, which came after a lack of spring and summer rainfall.

Yorkshire now joins all of central, southern and eastern England in drought status, while the North East and North West remain in prolonged dry weather.

Why the drought has been declared

According to the Environment Agency, the region has had its fifth driest April to September on record.

Vicki Townend, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, said: "This ongoing lack of rainfall means the flow in rivers and groundwater levels in certain parts of our area are very low and have now reached our trigger for declaring a drought.

"Even if we receive a few weeks of rain, we cannot quickly reverse the effects of the lack of rainfall during a very dry spring and summer. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and implement our Yorkshire Drought Plan.

"As we see more impacts from climate change, heavier rainfall and drier summers will become more frequent. We encourage people to be aware of the impacts of drought and use a little less water to speed up the recovery from drought."

Government response

Water Minister Emma Hardy, who is also the MP for Hull West and Haltemprice, said the situation remained serious despite recent rain.

She said: "The recent rainfall is not yet enough to replenish all the water we've used over the spring and summer, and the Yorkshire drought declaration highlights the situation is still serious.

"The Government is carefully monitoring the actions of all water companies, and expect them to follow their drought plans, quickly fix leaks, and reduce demand.

"Long-term resilience against our changing climate is a priority for this government. Our strengthened Water Bill will start a decade-long journey to a very different water system, including nine new major reservoirs to secure supplies."

The National Drought Group, which includes the government, the Met Office, regulators, water companies, farmers, the Canal & River Trust, anglers and conservation experts, is now meeting weekly to monitor the situation and coordinate the response.

A pattern of more frequent droughts

The Environment Agency says this is the third drought in the past five years, following those in 2022 and 2025.

The agency says that as a result of climate change, longer, hotter summers and more intense winter rainfall are becoming more frequent, increasing the likelihood of both drought and flooding.

It says it is increasing monitoring and checks on abstractors, and is quickly processing drought permit applications so that water companies can reduce the amount of water they must provide into local rivers, in order to better protect public water supplies.

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