Overview

• Yorkshire Water reports stocks at 30.6% of capacity, down 2.01 percentage points week on week and far below the typical 71.7% for this stage of the year.
• Environment Agency data show total reservoir storage for England at 57% of the long‑term average at the end of August, with 12 sites or groups below 50%.
• The Pennines Group stands at 30% and the Yorkshire Supply Group at 32%, placing both in the exceptionally low category on the agency’s scale.
• Recent showers slowed declines but did not reverse them as regional demand stayed above 1.2 billion litres per day, according to Yorkshire Water.
• Defra has approved a six‑month drought order enabling up to 60,000 cubic metres per day to be abstracted at Moor Monkton under set flow thresholds, while hosepipe bans continue following the hottest summer on record and rainfall reaching only about 44% of the usual annual total to date.