Drought declared in North West England

North West England has officially entered a drought, the Environment Agency has said.

The portion entered drought presumption connected 21 May owed to debased h2o levels successful reservoirs and rivers, the bureau said.

The country has seen the third-lowest rainfall betwixt February and April connected grounds since 1871, portion England arsenic a full has seen its driest play implicit those 3 months since 1929.

It comes contempt caller rainfall.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "Across the North West we officially entered drought presumption connected 21 May owed to debased h2o levels successful reservoirs and rivers.

"Despite the rainfall implicit the play levels stay debased and we are encouraging radical to beryllium alert of the impacts of drought arsenic we participate the summertime period."

The spokesperson added: "With further unsettled periods and rainfall implicit the coming weeks we volition proceed to intimately show the concern and instrumentality our North West Drought Plan."

Read more: Will determination beryllium a hosepipe prohibition successful the UK?

England's wide reservoir retention was astatine 84% astatine the extremity of April - little than astatine the aforesaid clip of the twelvemonth successful the drought of summertime 2022.

The Environment Agency has warned of a "medium" hazard of drought successful England this summertime if determination isn't sustained rainfall.

The regulator has said determination are presently nary hosepipe bans planned, but warned h2o companies mightiness person to instrumentality measures including restrictions successful the months ahead.

It comes arsenic the authorities has stepped successful to instrumentality power of the readying process for 2 large caller reservoirs, informing UK h2o supplies are nether threat.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed designated 2 caller reservoir projects successful East Anglia and Lincolnshire "nationally significant", which escalates them from section readying to cardinal government.

The caller reservoirs, the archetypal for much than 30 years, are being projected by Anglian Water, which wants to physique the Lincolnshire reservoir southbound of Sleaford and is partnering with Camridge Water for the Fens Reservoir betwixt Chatteris and March successful Cambridgeshire.

On Monday, provisional figures from the Met Office showed the UK has had its sunniest outpouring since records began successful 1910.

The UK recorded 630 hours of sunshine betwixt 1 March and 27 May - beating its erstwhile sunniest outpouring successful 2020 by 4 hours, the forecaster said.