Current water status and latest drought management briefing.
Current drought situation
Last updated: 9 March 2012
East Anglia and south east England are in drought. Parts of central England, south west England and south east Yorkshire continue to be affected by dry weather.
It’s anticipated that the risk of drought in the spring and summer in these areas is high.
Drought management briefing
We have activated our drought plans and produce a regular drought management brief to keep everyone informed about the latest situation:
Drought prospects 2012
We have produced a report that gives an early indication of drought prospects through winter 2011 into spring 2012. We will shortly be publishing a report that will set the outlook for water resources for spring and summer 2012.
We have produced a map showing drought risk areas in 2012 in England and Wales:
Water situation reports
We produce monthly water situation reports. During times of drought we produce weekly water situation reports. They are based on our, Met. Office and water company data. They provide information on rainfall, soil moisture deficit, river flows, groundwater levels and reservoir storage over the previous month.
Can you help?
Please help us by keeping a look out for problems such as fish gasping for air. Please report any concerns to our incident hotline 0800 80 70 60 (freephone, 24 hour service).
View our save water pages for tips on how to conserve water:
Managing public water use in a drought
Visit Defra’s website to find out about:
- government policies and activities
- the roles of key organisations
- relevant legislation
For more details on drought management please download our report:
Find out if there are any hosepipe and sprinkler bans, non-essential drought orders or spray irrigation restrictions in place. Read information on abstraction licence conditions. Find links to drought orders and drought permits information.
