Τι συνέβη

On Monday 19 October 2026 water company chief executives were called before the National Drought Group, chaired by water minister Emma Hardy. Defra and the Environment Agency published an update on the meeting the next day. As James Murray reported for BusinessGreen, the message for government and businesses was that without a wet winter the drought will run into 2027.

This follows the severe drought declared on 15 October in parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex, and the ministerial direction we covered in severe drought: government directs the Environment Agency to protect water supplies. What is new this week:

  • What the companies are doing. Sending less water from reservoirs into rivers, reducing water pressure overnight where appropriate, speeding up leak detection and moving water from elsewhere in their networks to the lowest reservoirs.
  • Drought permits and bans. The Environment Agency has granted drought permits to South West Water and South East Water for Wimbleball and Ardingly reservoirs, Wessex Water is preparing seven more applications, and applications for non-essential use bans by South East Water, South West Water and Southern Water are with the Environment Secretary.
  • The outlook. The Environment Agency said at least 120% of average rainfall is needed over the next six months for the country to be considered out of drought by the start of spring. The Met Office said it is too early to say whether the current unsettled weather will bring the sustained rain needed.
  • A message to businesses. Waterwise, one of the group's members, said: "Water is scarce in England - and we all need to make sure we waste less, at home and at work." The Environment Agency also told water companies to apply early where restrictions on non-essential business use may be needed.

The Environment Agency's weekly drought report for 9 to 15 October adds that national reservoir storage was 54% of capacity, that Yorkshire moved into drought on 9 October, and that farmers may not be able to refill their storage reservoirs this winter, which could affect water for the 2027 irrigation season. Hosepipe bans (temporary use bans) remain in place across ten water companies' areas, from Anglian and Thames to South West Water.

Τι σημαίνει για μια μικρή επιχείρηση

A hosepipe ban mostly hits households. A non-essential use ban is the next step: a drought order that restricts non-essential uses of water, and the Environment Agency's own wording points at business use. None has been granted yet, and the government says customer supplies will not be interrupted. But if the rain doesn't come, the restrictions could still be in force in spring and summer 2027, when demand is highest.

That makes drought a business continuity question, not just a weather story. Ask yourself:

  • Which of your sites, suppliers and customers are in the areas named above?
  • What would stop if your water use were restricted for a few months?
  • Do any of your inputs depend on irrigated crops?

The other side is carbon reporting. Water is part of your Scope 3 footprint: mains water supply in category 1 at 0.1913 kg CO2e per cubic metre, and wastewater treatment in category 5 at 0.17088 kg CO2e per cubic metre, at the 2026 UK government factors. Every 100 m³ you save, with its wastewater, is about 35 kg CO2e. Small next to energy, but the cubic metres you record for your carbon report are also the baseline for your drought plan. Our post on water and your carbon footprint has a full worked example and explains why saving hot water saves far more carbon.

Τι να κάνετε τώρα

  1. Waste less water this winter. Fix leaks, fit spray taps and dual flush, and check your meter overnight when nothing should be running. A moving meter means a leak.
  2. Record use from your bills in cubic metres. A year of readings is the starting point for both a water saving target and your Scope 3 figures.
  3. Add drought to your risk register, with a date. For each site: water company, drought status, any ban in force and what you would do if non-essential use were restricted. Our climate risk assessment guide has a one-row-per-site table, and climate risk questions in tenders shows how to turn it into an answer buyers score.
  4. Watch the spring. The 120% rainfall figure is the test. The Environment Agency publishes a drought report every week, and your water company will announce any new ban on its website.

Πώς βοηθά το Carbon Recycling

In Carbon Recycling you enter water supply and wastewater from your bills in cubic metres, for each of your sites. It applies the right year's government factor, puts supply in category 1 and wastewater in category 5, and suggests 95% of supply for wastewater when your bill doesn't show it, so the water you save shows up in your carbon report and Carbon Reduction Plan. The Climate risk add-on shows, for each site, the Met Office UKCP18 projections for the change in summer and winter rainfall at 2°C and 4°C of warming, alongside flood and heat risk. That is the long-term picture for a tender or TCFD-style report; it doesn't show this year's drought status, so record that from the Environment Agency's weekly report.