Dorset avoids being declared a drought area
The National Drought Group has made the decision
Last updated 12th Aug 2022
A drought has been declared for parts of England, following the driest summer for 50 years - but Dorset has not been included in the status.
The conditions, which have almost completely deprived some areas of rainfall all summer, have prompted the National Drought Group to move parts of the South West, parts of southern and central England, and the East of England into official drought status.
But Dorset does not fall into any of the areas where drought has become official.
The Environment Agency has reassured the public that essential water supplies are safe.
The NDG is made up of representatives from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), water companies, the Environment Agency (EA), the National Farmers' Union (NFU), Natural England, Consumer Council for Water, water services regulator Ofwat, Water UK and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, as well as the Angling Trust and the Rivers Trust.
Eight of 14 areas designated by the EA have now moved to "drought", the second stage, including Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent and South London, Herts and North London, East Anglia, Thames, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, and East Midlands.
The Wessex area, which includes Dorset, is under 'prolonged dry weather' status, but not a fully declared drought at this stage.
It comes after the driest July on record for some areas and the driest first half of the year since 1976.
The total stock of water in England's reservoirs at the end of July was 65% of its normal capacity - the lowest level for that point in the calendar year since 1995, the EA said.
More than two-thirds of reservoirs or groups of reservoirs in England saw their stock of water drop by more than 10% between the end of June and the end of July.