Drought has gripped 71% of England as prolonged dry weather puts mounting pressure on water resources, agriculture and vulnerable communities, with another heatwave expected to push temperatures into the mid-30s Celsius later this week.
The National Drought Group confirmed that 71.3% of the country is now experiencing drought conditions, following one of England’s driest periods on record.
The latest assessment marks a sharp escalation in UK’s growing water crisis. The East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and Solent and the South Downs have become the latest regions to move into drought status, leaving no part of England classified as being in normal conditions.
According to the Environment Agency, water resources are under pressure in all regions, with the repercussions already being felt in agriculture, public water supplies, and the wider environment.
The degradation has been especially swift because the country is suffering from a “flash drought” a type of drought that occurs quickly when exceptionally low rainfall meets with high temperatures.
Last week, approximately half of England was categorised as experiencing a sudden drought. According to the most recent study, the share has climbed to more than seven out of ten sections of the country.
The North East and Yorkshire have also entered “prolonged dry weather” category, which is the stage immediately preceding drought, raising the prospect that the affected area would expand further if rainfall continues inadequate.
The warning comes at a particularly tough time in the British summer. England and Wales experienced their driest July since records began in 1836, with 19 English counties receiving no rain at all throughout the month, according to preliminary data.
Temperatures are expected to rise further as United Kingdom approaches its fifth heatwave of the summer. Forecasts indicate temperatures could reach 30C on Tuesday before climbing towards 36C in East Anglia and the South East by Thursday.
UK Health Security Agency has upgraded its heat health alert for the south-west to amber, with the warning in place from Tuesday through Friday. Such alerts are particularly significant for older people, young children and those with underlying vulnerabilities who can face greater risks from prolonged exposure to extreme heat.
But the drought is not simply a weather story. Its effects are increasingly visible across the UK’s economy, environment and public infrastructure, raising questions about whether the country is adequately prepared for a changing climate.
Water-intensive sectors are among those facing immediate pressure. Farmers, horticultural businesses and growers are confronting increasingly difficult decisions over irrigation and water use, while restrictions have been introduced in parts of the country.
According to Fran Barnes, Chief Executive of the Horticultural Trades Association, the latest figures demonstrated the scale of the challenge facing UK’s water system.
She stated that the country’s response must move beyond reacting to individual dry periods and instead focus on long-term resilience.
“The solution to the UK’s water challenges lies not just in the amount of rainfall, but in how effectively we capture, store, and manage it. Today we reiterated the need for the UK to take action and implement a long-term water resilience strategy that addresses the realities of a changing climate.”
Fran Barnes
Climate Crisis Puts Britain’s National Security Under Pressure
The worsening drought has also intensified a broader concern over how Britain should respond to climate change and whether environmental resilience should be treated as a national security priority.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has argued that Britain should invest more heavily in climate adaptation, including measures to deal with floods, wildfires and other increasingly severe weather events.
Speaking at Iain Dale All Talk at the Edinburgh Fringe, Polanski noted that the climate crisis represented a threat to Britain’s security that could not be treated as a distant environmental problem.
The Green Party leader said if defence spending included climate adaptation, Britain would “clearly need to up our spending,” while questioning the logic of increasing military expenditure simply to satisfy pressure from Washington.
“If we’re talking about spending 3.5 per cent of our GDP on military spending to please Donald Trump, then I think there’s an absolute incoherency in that. We’re already, I think, one of the fifth biggest spenders on military capacity, and actually, I think we need to look at defence as a much more holistic issue.”
Zack Polanski
He added: “I said this week, and I really believe, that the climate crisis is the biggest threat to our national security since the Second World War.”
Polanski pointed to recent wildfires in Scotland as evidence that the consequences of extreme weather are already affecting communities across Britain.
“It’s not some distant threat – it’s right here, right now. We’ve had wildfires not far away from here, where we’re talking in Edinburgh, and we know that what’s happening right now is not the new normal. This is the beginning of what will be the least extreme temperatures and least extreme weather in our lifetimes.”
Zack Polanski
The pressure is also being felt in Britain’s historic landscapes. A report from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England has warned that the country’s historic parks, gardens and cemeteries face increasing damage from climate extremes.
Drought, intense rainfall, severe storms and pests thriving in warmer conditions are already affecting historic landscapes, threatening everything from trees and plant collections to drainage systems, pathways, terraces and lakes.
Historic parks and gardens, including Kew, Chiswick House and Gardens, the Royal Parks and Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, collectively support more than 32,000 jobs and contribute an estimated £2.9 billion to UK economy each year from international visitors alone.
Yet the report warns that many of these landscapes were designed for climatic conditions that no longer exist. Trees are being lost to drought and high winds, while diseases affecting species such as box, ash, sweet chestnut and oak could threaten entire plant collections.
The combination of record-dry conditions, extreme heat and increasingly unpredictable rainfall is therefore exposing vulnerabilities far beyond Britain’s water supply.
The National Drought Group has warned that significant and sustained rainfall will be needed to reverse the current trajectory. Without it, more regions could move into formal drought, restrictions could intensify and pressure on agriculture, public supplies and ecosystems could deepen.
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