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Almost three-quarters of England is now in drought as conditions worsen following a dry start to August.
The National Drought Group has warned all regions of the country are experiencing pressure on their water resources – with increasing impacts across agriculture, public supplies, navigation, and the environment.
The East Midlands, Lincolnshire & Northamptonshire, Kent & East Sussex, and Solent & the South Downs became the latest to move into drought status today.
Along with the areas announced last week, most of the country (71.3%) is now experiencing a flash drought – which develops very quickly brought about by a combination of very low rainfall and higher temperatures. This takes the total to 45 million people in a drought area. Over 27 million people are now living under restrictions on water use.
The North East and Yorkshire have moved to prolonged dry weather – the stage before drought – with nowhere now deemed in normal status.
The changes follow the driest July in 190 years and just 5% of expected rainfall this month to date. There are warnings of more dry weather and another heatwave on the way, with temperatures tipped to reach the mid-30s in some places.
Tony Grayling, Strategic Drought Lead at the Environment Agency and Chair of the National Drought Group, said: