Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Scientists comment on a drought being declared in North-West England.
Prof Richard Allan, Professor of Climate Science, University of Reading, said:
“The lack of rainfall across the UK in spring 2025 constituted a meteorological drought and this quickly depleted the soil’s moisture leading to concerns over agricultural drought. Lowering river and reservoir levels are a concern for the northwest of the UK as further dry spells could threaten the supply of water as part of a hydrological drought. Of less concern are regions of copious ground water like the chalky catchments in the southeast of England which enter but also leave drought conditions more slowly than other regions of the UK.
“Droughts are expected to onset more rapidly and become more intense as the planet warms since the atmosphere’s thirst for water grows. A warming climate means moisture is more readily sapped from one region and blown into storm systems elsewhere, intensifying both wet and dry weather extremes with wilder swings between them. The only way to limit the increasing severity of wet and dry extremes is to rapidly cut greenhouse gas emissions across all de tors of society.”
Mr Alastair Chisholm, Director of Policy & External Affairs, CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management), said:
“The drought in the north-west is not surprising given the dry weather seen across the spring. Drought can come on particularly quickly in areas which rely on water supplies fed by surface water storage reservoirs as are common in this area, rather than large rivers or groundwater sources. Prolonged dry weather is more unusual in such parts of the country, but when it does happen the effects are more pronounced. Conversely, with some rain, given more mountainous topography and higher average annual rainfall in these areas, reservoirs can quickly recover.
“Official declarations of drought signal that water companies and the Environment Agency will progress to more advanced stages in their drought plans, such as temporary use bans (colloquially known as hosepipe bans).”
References:
https://www.ciwem.org/policy-reports/drought-management
https://www.ciwem.org/news/managing-drought-ciwems-position
Declared interests
Mr Alastair Chisholm “None”
Prof Richard Allan “None”