The government declared severe drought on 15 October 2026 in parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a press release. The South East and South West have had their driest April to September in over a century, affecting reservoir levels, Defra said. The decision followed the latest meeting of the National Drought Group, whose members include the Met Office, regulators, water companies and the National Farmers’ Union.

Under the plan, ministers are instructing water companies to monitor reservoir and river levels daily and to tighten water quality monitoring, the Environment Agency (EA) will increase compliance checks on businesses that take water from natural sources to make sure they take only permitted quantities, and Local Resilience Forums have been stood up. Water Minister Emma Hardy has instructed the EA to prioritise public water supplies in severe drought areas where there is an unavoidable trade-off between environmental rules and supplies, allowing water companies to keep more water in depleted reservoirs.

This level of drought is something we have not experienced for decades, so this government is stepping up our support and planning.

Dame Angela Eagle, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

What the EA is seeing on farms

In its weekly report for 9 to 15 October, published on 16 October, the EA said there are growing concerns that farmers may not be able to refill water storage reservoirs over the winter because reservoir levels are exceptionally low and river flows remain below normal, particularly across central and southern England. That could affect water availability for the 2027 irrigation season. Some farm storage reservoirs are at historic lows after an early start to irrigation, and some farmers are considering planting smaller irrigated areas, in particular of high-value vegetable crops, the agency said.

There are 449 restrictions on abstraction licences, the EA said, with formal section 57 restrictions in parts of East Anglia until 31 October and 1,383 voluntary restrictions reducing abstraction by 50%, spread across the Thames, Wye and Severn catchments. The agency has received 42 flexible abstraction requests from the agriculture sector. A regulatory position statement issued on 1 October lets existing licence holders take water outside their authorised period to fill storage reservoirs from 1 to 31 October, subject to conditions.

Wider water position

National reservoir storage was 54% of capacity, around 21% below the long-term average for the time of year, with 18 reservoir groups less than half full, the EA said. Yorkshire moved into drought status on 9 October. Wimbleball Reservoir on Exmoor, which serves 390,000 people, was 18% full on 4 October, the EA said when it announced a drought permit for South West Water on 8 October.

TAD’s reading

  • Growers and processors: If storage reservoirs do not refill, irrigated vegetable areas for 2027 may shrink, which would bear on supply contracts negotiated over the winter.
  • Irrigation and storage suppliers: The drought strengthens the case for on-farm winter storage, but new capacity is only as useful as the abstraction licence behind it.
  • Abstractors: More EA compliance checks in severe drought areas raise the risk for any business taking more than its licensed volume.
  • Policy: Prioritising public supply over environmental flows in severe drought areas sets the order in which users would be cut back if the winter stays dry.