Drought declared in Yorkshire as water companies told to 'fix leaks and reduce demand'
“The recent rain is not yet enough to replenish all the water we’ve used over the spring and summer”
The Environment Agency has declared drought in Yorkshire due to a lack of rain and low water in reservoirs and rivers.
It means the government and Environment Agency will “carefully monitor” water companies to ensure they follow their drought plans, quickly fix leaks and reduce demand.
The UK experienced record temperatures and five heatwaves this year.
Stocks in Yorkshire continued to fall in September and hit 42.7 per cent this week.
Yorkshire Water says the average for this time of the year is 68.7 per cent and ‘above average’ rain is needed to recover going into 2027.
Yorkshire joins all of central, southern and eastern England in drought status.
Water minister Emma Hardy said: “The recent rainfall is not yet enough to replenish all the water we’ve used over the spring and summer, and the Yorkshire drought declaration highlights the situation is still serious.
“The Government is carefully monitoring the actions of all water companies, and expect them to follow their drought plans, quickly fix leaks, and reduce demand.”
Area environment manager for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, Vicki Townend, said: “Even if we receive a few weeks of rain, we cannot quickly reverse the effects of the lack of rainfall during a very dry spring and summer. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and implement our Yorkshire Drought Plan.
“As we see more impacts from climate change, heavier rainfall and drier summers will become more frequent. We encourage people to be aware of the impacts of drought and use a little less water to speed up the recovery from drought.”
Drought has been declared in three of the past five years due to climate change, she added.
As well as enhanced monitoring and more checks on abstractors, the Environment Agency says it is quickly processing drought permit applications to allow water companies to reduce the amount of water they must provide into local rivers.
This means public water supplies are better protected, while also balancing the needs of the environment and local wildlife.
Yorkshire Water said earlier this week it was not anticipating a hosepipe ban.