Wessex is one of the areas declared to be in drought on Wednesday

Drought has been declared across more than half of England as hot, dry weather takes its toll on the country's water supplies.

The Environment Agency (EA) says that seven regions โ€“ covering large parts of central, eastern and southern England โ€“ are now in official drought conditions.

July saw 7% of the expected levels of rainfall in England, with just 1% across southern England.

It adds that the impacts are already being felt, including low river flows, early harvests and high risk of wildfires. Millions of people are already under hosepipe bans.

Hosepipe ban in force as drought threatens - is your area affected?

Helen Wakeham, director of water at the Environment Agency and chair of the National Drought Group, said: "The hot and dry weather means we are currently using water faster than nature can replenish it."

North Wales and the Upper Severn river basin entered drought conditions last week, Natural Resources Wales said.

Scotland does not declare drought but monitors "water scarcity". Some parts of eastern Scotland are in the most extreme category of "significant scarcity", according to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

The full list of English regions in drought conditions are:

East Anglia

Hertfordshire and the whole of London

Thames Valley

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Devon and Cornwall

the West Midlands

Wessex, covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, and South Gloucestershire

There is no single definition of drought, but it usually refers to a period of prolonged unusually dry weather that can have impacts on people, nature and the environment.

Today's announcement means there have been three droughts in the past five years โ€“ 2022, 2025 and now 2026.

This summer has seen repeated, extended and record-breaking heat. Some areas of the country are entering their fourth heatwave of the year.

And on Wednesday, the Met Office announced that the new June temperature record set last month, was even higher than previously thought, following verification processes.

The previously-reported figure of 37.7C in Lingwood, Norfolk, on 26 June 2026 has been updated to 38.0C โ€“ smashing the UK's previous June high of 35.6C.

Do you live in one of the affected regions?  Share your experiences.

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