Yorkshire’s reservoir levels drop further after heatwave

Continued dry and warm weather over the last week and England’s warmest June on record has seen reservoir stocks continue to decline across Yorkshire. 

Levels fell by 2.5% over the last week to 55.8%, significantly below the average (81.9%) for this time of year. 

Yorkshire’s reservoir stocks have been declining since late January due to the driest spring for 132 years in the county and England’s warmest June on record. Last week saw a heatwave across the country and amber heat health alerts in Yorkshire. 

During warm weather, water usage typically increases, which further impacts reservoir levels. Usage almost reached 1.5 billion litres on Monday 30 June, which is 200 million litres above Yorkshire Water’s typical daily production. 

The weather and resulting drop in water resources follows the Environment Agency’s announcement that Yorkshire had entered into a drought on 12 June, as a result of low rainfall, river levels, and groundwater in the region. 

Dave Kaye, director of water at Yorkshire Water said: “Our reservoir levels have been much lower than average for some time now, after the driest spring for 132 years in Yorkshire. The heat and dry weather over the last week have further impacted our reservoir levels. There is some light and localised rain around today and forecast for the rest of the week, but without significant rainfall soon, temporary usage restrictions are a possibility. 

“We know that warm weather can lead to an increase in water usage, but we are urging customers to continue using water wisely. We’re incredibly grateful to those customers who have been making efforts to save water over the last few months.  

“We’re working closely with the Environment Agency, and are working hard to manage our resources, moving water around the region to areas that need it the most. We have 100 additional colleagues tackling leakage and ask that customers continue to report leaks to us so that we can repair them as soon as possible.”