Drought Deepens as Prime Minister Chairs Emergency Meeting
Ten regions of England are now officially in drought and hosepipe bans imposed by nine water companies affect around 29 million people, as the prime minister chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on the crisis. Reservoirs stand at 62.6 per cent, well below normal for August, after one of the driest summers on record. Ministers announced £65m to help farmers and investment in nine new reservoirs. Officials warned that parched ground now also raises the risk of flash flooding.
The escalation to a Cobra meeting, the mechanism reserved for national emergencies, marks a shift from local hosepipe bans to a coordinated crisis response, and reflects how a run of record-dry months has drained the country’s water reserves. Britain’s ageing water system, which loses vast quantities to leaks and has not built a major reservoir in decades, is ill-equipped for a drier, more volatile climate, and each dry summer exposes the gap. The £65m for farmers and the promise of new reservoirs address the symptoms and the long term, but neither refills the reservoirs this year. The paradox now is drought and flash-flood risk at once, as rain runs off hardened ground. Watch whether restrictions tighten further and how the harvest holds up.