Drought Declared in North Wales and Upper Severn Amid Heatwaves

A drought has been declared in North Wales and the Upper Severn river basin as successive heatwaves have left water supplies under strain.

Without significant rainfall in the coming days, Wales is set to record the driest July since records began 190 years ago, according to Natural Resources Wales.

The hot, dry summer is depleting water supplies and driving high demand across the UK, with more than 20 million people in England and Wales currently under a hosepipe ban.

This means hosepipes cannot be used for watering gardens, washing vehicles and windows and filling pools.

But while spring and early summer have seen temperatures regularly exceed 30C, winter was much wetter than usual.

It has raised questions about how effectively water resources are being managed, and whether the UK is prepared for drier summers expected with climate change.

So how is your area doing and how close are you to a drought?

There is no single definition of drought, but it often begins with a period of low rainfall. As the ground dries out, crops and vegetation can begin to struggle. If dry conditions persist, rivers, reservoirs and groundwater levels can also fall, putting pressure on water supplies.

Environmental bodies in each UK nation decide whether to declare drought or water scarcity by assessing current water resources alongside weather forecasts.

Both drought and water scarcity can lead to hosepipe bans.

While drought is driven by prolonged dry weather, water scarcity occurs when demand for water outstrips the available supply. This summer, restrictions have been introduced in some areas to help manage high demand.

So far, eight UK water companies have announced hosepipe bans - seven are spread across southern and eastern parts of England, and one is in Wales.

North Wales and Upper Severn are the only regions in drought, with the rest of Wales in "prolonged dry weather" - the next category down.

In England, the Environment Agency has declared prolonged dry weather across large parts of the country, including East Anglia, the West Midlands, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and London, Wessex, Thames, and Solent and the South Downs.

The remaining parts of England, mostly in the north, remain in "normal" status.

Meanwhile, there are no official droughts currently in Northern Ireland.

Scotland does not declare droughts but monitors "water scarcity".

Several areas in eastern Scotland are in "moderate scarcity" but none are in the most extreme category of "significant scarcity".

Our three main sources of water are rivers, reservoirs and from deep underground.

Following the hot, dry weather, river flows were low in June for parts of the UK.

"Without significant rainfall we could see increasing impacts on wildlife, agriculture and water resources as the summer progresses," said Steve Turner, a hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).

When declaring drought in North Wales and Upper Severn, Natural Resources Wales said many river flows in the area are "exceptionally low" for the time of year, with some locations seeing record lows for July.

Reservoirs are a crucial part of water supplies and levels in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland were all normal or above expected in June, according to latest available data.

Figures up to mid-July show England's reservoirs are below average levels for the time of year, albeit with some variation across the country.

South-east England relies more heavily on groundwater than reservoirs.

Groundwater originates as rainfall and is naturally stored beneath the surface in the pore spaces and fractures in rocks.

In June, groundwater levels were generally at or just below normal, having been topped up by winter rainfall but depleted by a drier spring in most regions.

But water can flow more slowly through some rock types than others, sometimes taking years to fully respond to current conditions.

These groundwater stores "respond more slowly to changes in the climate than rivers, which is why they provide a useful buffer during periods of drought", said Prof Alan MacDonald of the British Geological Survey.

It is why groundwater droughts in the south of England generally take a longer time to develop but can be longer-lasting if they do occur.