Hazard WatchUK

Every official UK hazard warning, in one place.Check your postcode

Data feed synced2026-11-13 08:58 UTC

Preparedness AssessmentPrepare3, 7 and 14 days without power or water

Threat status:NormalElevatedSevere

Reservoir levels, drought status and hosepipe bans across England, and which reservoirs are running low. If your water is off, contact your water company.

Water supply and drought in the UK

Restriction riskHigh

Most serious statusSevere droughtreport of 2026-11-05

4 of 4 steps apply somewhere in England. A lit box shows where. Report of 2026-11-05.

STEP 1 OF 4ACTIVE

Prolonged dry weather

Drier than normal. No restrictions. The Environment Agency and water companies are watching levels.

3 areas: Cumbria and Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, North East

STEP 2 OF 4ACTIVE

Drought declared

Water is short in the area. No restrictions by itself, but hosepipe bans often follow. Use water carefully.

7 areas: East Anglia (parts), East Midlands (parts), Hertfordshire and North London (parts), Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire (parts), Thames (parts), West Midlands (parts), Yorkshire (parts)

STEP 3 OF 4ACTIVE

Temporary Use Ban (hosepipe ban)

Hosepipes and sprinklers are banned. Applies to households the company supplies. Check your supplier's website.

10 companies: Affinity Water (part), Anglian Water, Bristol Water, Cambridge Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, South East Water, South West Water, Southern Water (part), Thames Water, Wessex Water

STEP 4 OF 4ACTIVE

Severe drought declared

A serious shortage. Wider restrictions on businesses and on supply are possible.

4 areas: Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (parts), Kent and South London (parts), Solent and South Downs (parts), Wessex (parts)

Hazard Watch UK

Reservoirs and drought status

Layers

Reservoirs, by how full

Bubble size: capacity. Dashed edge: a group of reservoirs.

Ring those that could run low

likely in a dry spell

Groundwater boreholes

Background

Drought status Rain, last 30 days Rain forecast, 14 days None

Map display

County boundaries Postcode areas (approx.) City labels

Boundaries: Office for National Statistics, OGL v3. Postcode areas are approximate.

Lowest reservoirs in the UK

Readings, last 12 monthsNext 12 weeks (stretched): likely, and dry to wet range; the figure at the end is the likely level in 12 weeks30% lineLast reading more than 3 weeks old shown in amber

Reservoir	Company	Last reading	Back above 30%	Record
Nant Y Ffrith	Hafren Dyfrdwy	0%26 Oct · 3 weeks ago	–	collected since Dec 2022
Redmires Middle Ire	Yorkshire Water	5%9 Nov · 4 days ago	likely by 4 Jan	4 years (indicative)
Cropston	Severn Trent Water	18%9 Nov · 4 days ago	–	collected since Jan 2023
Ardingly	South East Water	19%8 Nov · 5 days ago	–	collected since Oct 2026
Tottiford	South West Water	19%11 Nov · 2 days ago	–	collected since Oct 2026
Wimbleball	South West Water	19%11 Nov · 2 days ago	–	collected since Oct 2026
Scargill Ire	Yorkshire Water	19%9 Nov · 4 days ago	likely by 23 Nov	4 years (indicative)
Barden Lower Ire	Yorkshire Water	20%9 Nov · 4 days ago	likely by 30 Nov	4 years (indicative)
Charnwood	Severn Trent Water	22%9 Nov · 4 days ago	–	collected since Jan 2023
Stithians	South West Water	22%11 Nov · 2 days ago	–	collected since Oct 2026
Clatworthy	Environment Agency map	25%31 Oct · 2 weeks ago	–	collected since Jan 2025
Swithland	Severn Trent Water	25%9 Nov · 4 days ago	–	collected since Jan 2023
Strines Ire	Yorkshire Water	26%9 Nov · 4 days ago	likely by 23 Nov	4 years (indicative)
Redmires Upper Ire	Yorkshire Water	27%9 Nov · 4 days ago	likely by 23 Nov	4 years (indicative)
Cae Llwyd	Hafren Dyfrdwy	28%26 Oct · 3 weeks ago	–	collected since Dec 2022
Ogden Ire	Yorkshire Water	30%9 Nov · 4 days ago	likely by 16 Nov	4 years (indicative)
Darwell	Southern Water	30%2 Nov · 2 weeks ago	likely by 16 Nov	10 years

No reservoir above 30% now is projected to fall below it in the next 12 weeks.

How to read thisEvery reservoir below 30% full at its last reading, lowest first. Below that, companies are usually well into their drought plans. The line shows the last year of readings; the shaded band is where it could go over the next 12 weeks, from a dry spell to a wet one, with the likely path dashed. Companies publish weekly or monthly, so check how old each reading is.

How reliable is it?The projection replays how each reservoir behaved from this date in earlier years; it uses no rain forecast. On the long records it was tested on, the likely figure had about half the error of assuming no change, and it leans cautious. Records under 10 years are marked indicative: they have not been tested. Reservoirs collected for less than four years have no projection; the next summer outlook below covers several of them from longer records.

Rain and temperature: last 30 days and the next two weeks

No freeze-then-thaw and no heatwave in the 16-day forecast. These are the two weather patterns that most often cut supply at short notice.

Area	Rain last 30 days	Rain forecast next 14 days	Coldest night ahead	Hottest day ahead	Freeze then thaw	Heatwave
Cumbria and Lancashire	53% of normal	87% of normal	-4°C	11°C	–	–
Devon Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly	133% of normal	132% of normal	-2°C	12°C	–	–
East Anglia	121% of normal	72% of normal	-2°C	12°C	–	–
East Midlands	81% of normal	40% of normal	-2°C	12°C	–	–
Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire	82% of normal	76% of normal	-2°C	12°C	–	–
Hertfordshire and North London	145% of normal	101% of normal	-1°C	12°C	–	–
Kent South London and East Sussex	149% of normal	109% of normal	-3°C	12°C	–	–
Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire	101% of normal	78% of normal	-2°C	12°C	–	–
North East	84% of normal	57% of normal	-2°C	11°C	–	–
Scotland	125% of normal	47% of normal	-9°C	6°C	–	–
Solent and South Downs	175% of normal	128% of normal	-2°C	12°C	–	–
Thames	146% of normal	96% of normal	-3°C	12°C	–	–
Wales	149% of normal	119% of normal	-6°C	11°C	–	–
Wessex	158% of normal	145% of normal	-3°C	12°C	–	–
West Midlands	122% of normal	72% of normal	-2°C	12°C	–	–
Yorkshire	78% of normal	89% of normal	-2°C	11°C	–	–

How to read thisUnder 100% means drier than usual for the time of year. Reservoirs need a run of wet weeks to refill, and rain on dry ground soaks in before it reaches them, so one wet fortnight rarely changes the picture.

How reliable is it?Rain forecasts are useful for about a week and roughly right to two; nothing here looks further. Each area is read at one point, so treat it as a broad indication. The two temperature triggers are rules of thumb, not tested.

National detailWater supplyRain and temperature outlook

Water supply

RED · Severeas of 2026-11-12 07:40 UTC (25 h 18 min ago)

England reservoir storage

60.1 % full

Gap to long-term average

-17.0 points

Reservoirs or groups below 50%

Areas in severe drought

4 of 14

Areas in drought

7 of 14

Companies with hosepipe bans

Boreholes exceptionally low

Drought stage and bans from the Environment Agency report dated 2026-11-05. Rows marked public = no are built on water company web pages and stay internal.

England reservoir storage percent

Environment agency areas

Area	Stage	Scope
Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly	severe drought	parts
Kent and South London	severe drought	parts
Solent and South Downs	severe drought	parts
Wessex	severe drought	parts
East Anglia	drought	parts
East Midlands	drought	parts
Hertfordshire and North London	drought	parts
Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire	drought	parts
Thames	drought	parts
West Midlands	drought	parts
Yorkshire	drought	parts
North East	prolonged dry weather	–
Cumbria and Lancashire	recovering drought	–
Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire	recovering drought	–

Hosepipe bans

Company	Scope
Affinity Water	central and east regions, covering Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, and parts of London and Essex
Anglian Water	whole company area, excluding Hartlepool
Bristol Water	whole company area
Cambridge Water	whole company area
Essex and Suffolk Water	whole company area
South East Water	whole company area
South West Water	whole company area, excluding Bournemouth
Southern Water	Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
Thames Water	whole company area
Wessex Water	whole company area

Lowest reservoirs

Reservoir	Operator	Percent full	Change 4 weeks	Observed	Public
Wimbleball	Environment Agency map	17.0	-4.0	2026-10-31	yes
Cropston	Severn Trent Water	18.4	-0.9	2026-11-09	no
Ardingly	Environment Agency map	19.0	-6.0	2026-10-31	yes
Ardingly	South East Water	19.0	–	2026-11-08	no
Wimbleball	South West Water	19.0	–	2026-11-10	no
Tottiford	South West Water	19.0	–	2026-11-10	no
Barden Lower Ire	Yorkshire Water	21.5	-8.3	2026-11-02	yes
Charnwood	Severn Trent Water	21.5	0.8	2026-11-09	no
Stithians	Environment Agency map	22.0	-5.0	2026-10-31	yes
Stithians	South West Water	22.0	–	2026-11-10	no

Groundwater low

Borehole	Band	Last month	Aquifer
Chilgrove	exceptionally low	notably low	(chalk) Chichester- Worthing- Portsdown Chalk
Chipstead Gwl	exceptionally low	exceptionally low	Epsom North Downs Chalk
Jackaments Bottom	exceptionally low	notably low	(jurassic Limestone) Burford Oolitic Limestone (Inferior)
Tilshead	exceptionally low	exceptionally low	Upper Hampshire Avon Chalk
Woodyates	exceptionally low	notably low	Dorset Stour Chalk
Houndean Bottom Gwl	notably low	below normal	Brighton Chalk Block
Wetwang	notably low	notably low	Hull and East Riding Chalk

Source: Environment Agency water situation and drought reports · OGL v3; Stream water industry open data · CC BY 4.0; London Datastore · OGL; Water company web pages

Rain and temperature outlook

GREEN · Normalas of 2026-11-13 06:22 UTC (2 h 36 min ago)

Rain, last 30 days (median area)

125 % of normal

Rain forecast, next 14 days (median area)

89 % of normal

Areas under 60% of normal, last 30 days

1 of 16

Areas with a freeze then thaw forecast

0 of 16

Areas with a heatwave forecast

0 of 16

One point per area, so a broad indication. Normal is the 1991 to 2020 average for the same days of the year. Freeze then thaw: 2 days with nights at -4°C or below and days no warmer than 2°C, then 7°C or above within 3 days. Heatwave: 3 days in a row at 27°C or above. Both triggers are judgements, not backtested.

By area

Area	Rain last 30 days mm	Percent of normal	Rain next 14 days mm	Forecast percent of normal	Freeze then thaw	Heatwave
Cumbria and Lancashire	68.1	53	52.4	87	–	–
Devon Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly	135.4	133	62.9	132	–	–
East Anglia	68.5	121	18.9	72	–	–
East Midlands	48.0	81	11.1	40	–	–
Greater Manchester Merseyside and Cheshire	74.0	82	32.2	76	–	–
Hertfordshire and North London	88.1	145	30.0	101	–	–
Kent South London and East Sussex	95.7	149	33.6	109	–	–
Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire	58.7	101	20.7	78	–	–
North East	51.4	84	17.2	57	–	–
Scotland	128.5	125	21.5	47	–	–
Solent and South Downs	133.3	175	47.2	128	–	–
Thames	93.2	146	29.7	96	–	–
Wales	168.5	149	62.7	119	–	–
Wessex	123.0	158	54.4	145	–	–
West Midlands	79.9	122	21.9	72	–	–
Yorkshire	45.7	78	24.6	89	–	–

Source: Weather data by Open-Meteo.com · CC BY 4.0