A drought is to be declared across wide swathes of England after a meeting of experts, the Guardian has learned.
The prolonged dry conditions, with some areas of the country not receiving significant rainfall all summer, have caused the National Drought Group to declare an official drought, according to leaked documents from a meeting on Friday seen by the Guardian.
The Environment Agency will move into drought in eight of its 14 areas: Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent and south London, Herts and north London, East Anglia, Thames, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, and the east Midlands.
The leaked documents show they expect a further two areas will move into drought later in August. These are Yorkshire and West Midlands.
The group met earlier this summer to discuss the lack of rainfall, and decided to put the country in “prolonged dry weather status”, the first of four emergency dry weather stages, and one step before drought. Now, the country has been tipped into the second stage.
This means water rationing may take place across the country, with fewer barriers for water companies who wish to ban customers from using hosepipes and washing the car with tap water.
More severe measures can also be put in place at this stage, including banning the use of sprinklers the cleaning of buildings, vehicles and windows.
The group contains representatives from water companies, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency, the National Farmers’ Union, Natural England, CCW, Ofwat, Water UK and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, as well as the Angling Trust and the Rivers Trust.
Members of the National Drought Group have been shown alarming data revealing that river flows in many catchments are forecast to get lower than they were in 2011, which was a very dry year. Even with heavy rainfall in the first months of 2012, river flows remained low that summer. This means that much higher than average rainfall is needed for months to top up rivers.
The arid weather has meant reservoirs across the country are at very low levels and rivers are drying up. Experts are braced for the situation to become even more severe.
Catherine Sefton, a hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said: “In the south-east of England, the continued dry weather means that many river flows remain notably or exceptionally low, and hydrological forecasts suggest this situation will persist over the next few months.
“Where river flows are supported by groundwater that recharges during the winter months, the impact of dry weather is reduced. But a continuation of below average rainfall into a second winter would likely result in serious hydrological and environmental drought, with further intensification of the water supply restrictions and fish rescues that we are starting to see in the south-east.”
The last time a drought was announced was in 2018, when hosepipe bans were put in place by water companies across the country. Though research has not yet been conducted to determine whether this year’s drought was caused by climate breakdown, the dry conditions and extreme heat in 2018 were found by the Met Office to have been made 30 times more likely due to climate change.
Scotland and Wales have similar drought reaction groups, which are also understood to be meeting this summer after drier than usual conditions.
Drought to be declared across eight areas of England | Drought & Latest News Update
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