The water shortage in England has been classified as “national importance”, the country having experienced the first six months of the driest year since 1976, the Environment Agency (EA) said on Tuesday.
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According to the EA, five regions of England are affected by drought, faced with a decrease in water reserves and a decrease in agricultural yields.
The national group on drought, which brings together the government, representatives of the agricultural sector and water companies, met to discuss the situation, while certain regions of England are preparing to face the fourth heat wave of this summer.
“The current situation is crucial nationally, and we each call on to play their role and help reduce pressure on our aquatic environment,” said Helen Wakeham, water in EA.
The vice-president of the National Union of Farmers, Rachel Hallos, expressed “an increasing concern for the coming months”, the farmers continuing to face “extreme drought conditions”.
“Some operations point out a significant drop in their yields, which is financially devastating for the agricultural sector and may have repercussions on all crops in the United Kingdom,” she added.
The levels of tanks across England only reached 67.7% of their capacity in recent days, much less than the average for a first week of August, which is 80.5%.
According to the EA, 49% of watercourses were lower than normal, while Yorkshire, in northern England, prohibited the use of garden watering.
According to the Meteorological Service Met Office, England experienced the driest spring in 2025 in 2025 for over a hundred years.
“We are going to be faced with a growing water shortage during the next decade,” said Emma Hardy, Minister of Water, adding that the government planned to build new tanks.
Scientists warn that human change caused by humans makes extreme weather phenomena such as floods, heat waves and more intense and more frequent droughts.