Current Drought To Continue Despite Wet Weather

Some particularly wet weather has blessed our shores over the last few days, which has been especially welcome after the weeks and months of dry conditions that saw much of the country driven into drought.

Despite all the rain, however, the National Drought Group has issued a warning that this drought is expected to continue, with five regions around England still in drought and more predicted to declare similar status within the next couple of weeks.

Rainfall in August was just 42 per cent of the long-term average and the summer of 2025 has been declared as the hottest since records first began back in 1884. This lack of rainfall has had an impact on harvests, breeding patterns of some animals and peatlands, with wildfire destroying at least 3,000 hectares of land on sites of special scientific interest.

Environment Agency chair Alan Lovell said: “While we have seen some recent rain, it is nowhere near enough to reverse the impact of the last seven months, which have been the driest since 1976.

“The environment bears the brunt of this lack of rainfall, and this summer we have seen widespread impacts from low river levels, fish needing to be rescued, and wildfires.

“We are calling on everyone to continue to take simple steps to reduce their water use and are grateful to people for following the restrictions imposed by water companies. By saving water, we all leave more water in the environment.”

Drought conditions are only considered to be over when reservoirs, rivers and groundwater stocks are fully replenished. Expert analysis suggests that we will need a wet autumn and a wet winter to reverse the impact of this year’s spring and summer.

However, if this does happen, the risk is that flooding and flash flooding may happen because the soil and ground has been baked for so long that it will struggle to soak up deluges of water seen during periods of intense rainfall.

The Environment Agency has said that it will continue to work closely with the government, Defra and the Cabinet Office on drought responses, as well as carrying out more compliance checks on businesses abstracting water from the environment.

What can businesses do to help during periods of drought?

If, as a business, you have an abstraction licence that allows you to withdraw resources from groundwater aquifers and so on, it’s important to get in touch with the Agency if you don’t think you’ll be able to operate within your permit limits.

There are various short-term options you can consider during periods of drought, including:

– Extending the abstraction season

– Refilling storage reservoirs at higher flows once the winter abstraction season (March 31st) has ended

– Adding or moving abstraction points

– Increasing licence quantities to meet additional demand

What is important to note is that climate change is expected to increase the risks of drought conditions as time goes on.

As such, it’s essential that businesses put measures in place now to both mitigate and adapt to the effects, building resilience into their systems across the board so they can continue to operate even in the face of disruption.

Sustainable water management practices can make a significant difference to how much water you use – and how much money you spend.

Investing in tools and resources like rainwater harvesting and greywater technology can help you improve your water footprint and start using water more efficiently, for example.

It’s beneficial to first gain insights into how and where you use water, however – and this is where a water audit really comes into its own.

This will give you in-depth information relating to your water consumption habits, allowing you to identify the most appropriate conservation methods, which can be updated over time in line with the evolving needs of your company.

A desktop water audit compares your water use, including volumes, against what you’re being charged for. Any discrepancies will be revealed as part of the process so you can see if you’ve ever been billed incorrectly in the past. It’s possible to recoup significant amounts of money because of historical billing errors, so it’s certainly worth looking into.

If you’d like to find out more about what’s involved and how you can start improving the water stewardship of your business, get in touch with the SwitchWaterSupplier.com team today.