Wet winter 'needed to avoid 2026 drought' warning

Chew Valley Lake is one of many reservoirs left depleted after the spring and summer

The Environment Agency (EA) has warned that multiple counties in the West face the risk of drought next summer if this winter is drier than usual.

According to a report by the agency the Wessex area, which includes Somerset, Wiltshire, Bristol and Dorset, is in a period of "prolonged dry weather" and could face drought in 2026 if it sees below 80% rainfall over winter.

The warning follows the driest spring for 100 years being followed by the hottest summer on record in 2025, a combination which depleted water reserves.

"If we don't have a normal winter, or perhaps a bit wetter than normal, we will have a drought in the spring," said Ian Withers, Director of the EA's Wessex Area Director.

"Our water supplies are lower than they normally are at this time of year and if we do have a dry winter, and the Met Office seems to be signalling that that's possible, then the actions that the public and society take will be really important to lessen the worse possible affect," he added.

BBC Weather Watcher Cloud9Weather took this picture of Wimbleball Reservoir on Exmoor last week

The Met Office is currently predicting a high likelihood of drier than usual conditions from November to January, despite recent wet weather.

"We're going to have intense rainfall, perhaps in those kinds of patterns more often and climate change seems to be doing that to us, but also very dry baseline summers and springs," said Mr Withers.

"What we need is sustained normal average wet winter rainfall and that should see us OK," he added.

"If we don't get that and we continue to have dry weather then we will have a shortage of water and that will have impacts next year."

The government has plans to increase the number of reservoirs to increase water supply.

This includes discussions on adding a second reservoir in Cheddar in Somerset.

Mr Withers says this "is definitely a good thing to be doing," and will improve "long-term resilience," provided that we get the rainfall.

However, he added members of the public should not underestimate the impact that decisions they make about their own water usage could have.

"Even small actions, if they're done many times by many people will make a big difference," he said.

"Using water responsibly in the bathroom, in the kitchen and in the garden will make a difference to everybody."