Drought Declared Across Southern England Amidst Plummeting Reservoir Levels
Ardingly Reservoir drops to 20.2 per cent capacity as officials enhance drought planning and warn of potential winter shortages.
Sarah Connor
Severe drought has been declared across parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex, and West Sussex.
Ardingly Reservoir, a vital source for 280,000 residents in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, and surrounding areas in East Sussex, saw its capacity fall sharply, dropping from 22.8 percent full a week ago to just 20.2 percent.
Rainfall remained scarce throughout the summer; October's light precipitation proved insufficient to recover from the heatwaves experienced between May and September.
Reservoirs and water infrastructure are under significant strain due to persistently high demand and critically low supply. Supplies were significantly impacted by high demand following what is understood to be the hottest summer on record, according to the Environment Agency.
Hundreds of thousands of people could be left without water this winter, following a record-breaking dry spring and summer.
Wimbleball Reservoir on Exmoor is reportedly at a mere 14.9 percent capacity. Hundreds of thousands of people could be left without water this winter, an unnamed source warns, following a record-breaking dry spring and summer.
Despite these dire warnings, the government stated that customer water supplies would remain uninterrupted. John Halsall, chief executive of South East Water, ended exemptions to a months-long hosepipe ban in Sussex, tightening restrictions on water usage.
Environment Agency indicated that The Environment Agency will increase compliance checks on businesses that withdraw water from natural sources, enforcing stricter adherence to water abstraction rules.
The Environment Agency will increase compliance checks on businesses that withdraw water from natural sources, enforcing stricter adherence to water abstraction rules. Rainfall was more than 80 percent lower than average in some areas last month.
The Met Office, however, forecasts rain, often heavy, in northern England and Wales today, a stark contrast to the parched conditions further south.