The July heatwave may be over but experts now believe that a drought, where the country experiences a lack of water, is on the horizon, too.
Record-breaking temperatures of 40.3°C earlier this month may have causing significant damage to crops, and could see the introduction of a hosepipe ban.
The UK has not seen any significant droughts since 2018, but with more heatwaves expected to hit before the summer is out, there’s a strong chance we could soon be looking to limit our water usage.
So here’s what it could mean if there’s a drought in the UK and how it might impact our day-to-day lives.
How far are we from declaring a drought now?
Most of England has now moved into “Prolonged Dry Weather” status, so precautionary actions are “being undertaken to mitigate impacts”, according to the National Drought Group. This brings the government, water companies and environmental groups together to address increased water demand.
Nowhere in England is currently considered to be in drought, and most water companies are maintaining good reservoir storage for the summer.
The National Drought Group met on Tuesday to discuss how to address the UK’s dry conditions – a meeting which was actually brought forward from October to deal with the immediate conditions.
There has already been a water scarcity risk alert in Scotland, released by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
A drought was actually announced in Italy at the start of July, while Spain and Portugal were under pressure to follow suit.
For now, the UK’s Environment Agency spokesperson said it was monitoring river levels and responding to environmental incident with precautionary action.
What would it mean if the UK went into drought?
Water levels in reservoirs and rivers are already lower than normal. This means the water companies running them may call for non-essential use bans, according to professor Chris Binnie, previously the president of the chartered institution of Water and Environmental Management.
The heat seen over the last month already means more water has been leaving the soil and vegetation, so greater levels of rain will be needed to bring the soil water content up to a standard level.
A hosepipe ban may be introduced across the country too, as could a ban on crop irrigation between August and September.
This would put root vegetables, such as potatoes, in danger as they need plenty of water to grow.
July’s heatwave has already baked the soil, which pushed farmers to start irrigating their crops more – only increasing the rate of evaporation.
If their crop yields fall due to the dry conditions, it will also cost farmers more – many have already signed contracts with supermarkets and other suppliers, and so may have to cover the costs out of their pocket.
How else could farming be affected?
Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union, gave a stark summary of where the farming industry was when it came to water, to The Guardian.
She said: “We don’t have time to waste. The situation with water is very, very serious for growers – there are implications for costs and crop viability.”
She called for water storage to improve, so that food security could be protected, adding: “We have taken our water supply for granted in this country for so long.”
Pointing to the problems European counties are facing, Batters explained: “This really does highlight the futility of just relying on imports; other European countries are in far worse situations that we are.”
Could droughts happen more frequently?
Although the last two droughts in the UK were 2018 and 2011, the climate crisis means hot spells will be more frequent, last longer and more intense in the future.
Average rainfall in the UK has decreased significantly since 1976, a year when the country was hit by a surprise heatwave and temperatures soared to 35.9°C.
