Driest Spring On Record For Much Of Britain; Drought Next, Unless Record Flooding Of 2012 Repeats Itself
England is heading towards a drought this summer unless there is significant rainfall soon, as reservoir water levels dwindle. The government will on Wednesday convene the National Drought Group of water companies, farming groups and other experts to prepare for what is expected to be a dry summer with potential water shortages. Scotland has already sounded the alarm over drought in the coming months, issuing an “early warning” of water scarcity in April.
No reservoirs have been built in England for more than 30 years, which leaves the country particularly vulnerable to drought. Reservoir levels are lower than they should be after parts of the country had their driest spring on record, and if the dry weather continues as predicted there may be water shortages leading to hosepipe bans and potentially other forms of rationing.
To avert a drought, there would need to be rainfall at levels last seen in 2012, when record-breaking deluges caused floods across the country, according to the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management. A spokesperson for CIWEM said: “Rainfall totals across much of the British Isles have been low since the start of 2025. This has reduced the amount of recharge and refill possible in groundwater and reservoir resources over the 2024-25 winter, and left water resources below the levels companies would like to see at the start of the spring/summer seasons. The data shows that at present 2025 rainfall is similar to levels last seen in drought events of the last 20 years. It suggests that sustained rainfall, such as that last seen in 2012, would be required to remove the threat of drought this year.”
However, long-term forecasts suggest the conditions are ripe for very warm and dry months ahead. April was the sunniest since records began, with a mean temperature of 9.6C (49.3F) for the UK, 1.7C above average, making it the third warmest April for mean temperature since the series began in 1884. The UK received just over 56% of the rainfall it would usually expect in April and the Thames area has particularly suffered this spring, getting just 13% of the average rainfall.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/06/england-faces-drought-summer-reservoir-water-levels-dwindle