Drought declared in parts of Wales as UK faces driest July in 200 years

Parts of Wales are now in drought and all other areas of the country are experiencing prolonged dry conditions, with this month on course to be the driest on record for nearly 200 years.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said on Thursday that record-low river flows, back-to-back heatwaves and widespread wildfires have prompted the declaration of drought status in north Wales and the Upper Severn.

As of Thursday, several fires were still burning across the country after more than a week, leading the Welsh government to activate “crisis” plans amid concerns over a lack of firefighting helicopters.

The declaration of drought in Wales comes as a new scientific analysis finds that extreme heat, supercharged by the human-caused climate crisis, is sucking Europe dry in summer and intensifying the drought hitting the continent.

Deadly wildfires have raged through Spain and France, and rivers are running low across Europe. On Monday, the National Drought Group – the members of which include the Met Office, the National Farmers’ Union, water companies and expert bodies – declared parts of southern, central and eastern England to be in “prolonged dry weather”.

The two areas now in drought in Wales have received less than 2% of the expected rainfall for the month so far, and the rivers Clwyd, Alwen, Alyn, Clywedog, Dyfi and Conwy in north Wales, as well as the Wye, have recorded new monthly minimum flows or are approaching record lows.

The hot and dry weather over recent weeks means July is on course to be the driest on record in Wales for nearly 200 years, causing problems for fish, wildlife and crops.

NRW announced last week that north and south-east Wales were moving to “prolonged dry weather” status, the stage before drought, triggering extra checks on waterways and protected wildlife sites as well as the release of reservoir water into struggling rivers.

Rhian Thomas, the sustainable water and nature manager at NRW, said the hot and dry spell was “having serious impacts on the environment across parts of Wales”, adding: “We have seen rivers fall to exceptionally low levels, groundwater continuing to decline, and increasing reports of environmental impacts affecting wildlife, fisheries, farming and sensitive habitats. The recent wildfires across north Wales and south-east Wales are one of the clearest and most visible signs of how dry our landscapes have become.”

Drought has no official threshold criteria, but is measured by NRW as “a combination of indicators showing a significant shortage of rainfall and water availability, resulting in impacts on rivers, groundwater, ecosystems, agriculture and land management”.

While Welsh Water has reported that reservoir levels remain healthy overall, the company has implemented a hosepipe ban in parts of west Wales. People across England and Wales are being urged to be mindful of water usage. About 23 million people will have been banned from using hosepipes by this weekend.

In England, eight areas are in prolonged dry weather, the National Drought Group said this week. England has received only 3% of its long-term average July rainfall, with the south and east having nothing at all so far – the longest spell without rain since the mid-1990s.

Some rivers are at lower levels than during the heatwave last summer. In the south-west the Dart and Tor flow is lower than this time last year. In central and south-eastern England the Coln in Gloucestershire and the Soar in Leicestershire both have lower flows than this time last year.

Farmers have had to begin their harvests early, with warnings that cereal yields will be lower than expected.

Drought was declared across much of England, Wales and eastern Scotland last summer – conditions that did not officially end until March, after a wet autumn and winter replenished rivers and reservoirs.

The Met Office predicts that climate change will make UK summers 1C-6C (1.8F-10.8F) hotter and up to 60% drier by 2070, compared with 1990.

Hannah Cloke, professor of meteorology and climate science at the University of Reading, said: “Unless the UK collectively gets its act together, and builds greater resilience into its water system at every point, we face a more uncertain future in which the tap could run dry. There is a better future, where we use water better where it falls and don’t waste as much. But we need a fundamental shift in understanding from almost everyone to get there.”