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Current water status

Current water status and latest drought management briefing.

Current drought situation

Last updated: 10 February 2012

Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, parts of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, and west Norfolk are still in drought.

Shropshire and Nottinghamshire in our Midlands region and Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, East Sussex and Kent in our South East region are still affected by dry weather. In our Anglian region groundwater levels remain exceptionally low. Soils in these areas are still not wet enough for widespread recharge to take place.

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 for winter and spring 2011/12

We have produced a report that gives an early indication of drought prospects through winter 2011 into spring 2012:

We have also 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. View our monthly water situation reports:

Can you help?

Please can you help us by keeping a look out for problems (such as fish gasping for air) and 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, view our report:

Current water use restrictions

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.