Yorkshire has officially entered drought status because of low water levels in reservoirs and rivers, the Environment Agency has announced.
The region was in “prolonged dry weather” status since the end of July after a lack of spring and summer rainfall but was upgraded to “drought” on Friday.
It follows an unusually dry September, with the ongoing lack of rainfall into the autumn months causing the flow in rivers and groundwater levels to reach very low levels in parts of Yorkshire, officials said.
Fifth driest April to September on record
The region joins all of central, southern and eastern England in drought status while the North East and North West remain in prolonged dry weather.
Vicki Townend, area environment manager for the Environment Agency in Yorkshire, said the area has had the fifth driest April to September on record.
“This ongoing lack of rainfall means the flow in rivers and groundwater levels in certain parts of our area are very low and have now reached our trigger for declaring a drought,” she 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.”
Drought plan and climate change impacts
Ms Townend said the Environment Agency will continue to closely monitor the situation while implementing Yorkshire’s drought plan.
She also warned that heavier rainfall and drier summers will become more frequent as the UK sees more impacts from climate change.
“We encourage people to be aware of the impacts of drought and use a little less water to speed up the recovery from drought.”
