Wessex moves into drought

The whole of South West England has formally moved into drought.

Last week, the Environment Agency added the Wessex area, covering Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, south Gloucestershire and parts of Wiltshire, to its existing list of ten areas in drought. This already included Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and the Wessex move brings the total to 11 of 14 areas of England now classified with drought status.

The agency said there have been five consecutive months of below average rainfall across all geographic regions in England and above average temperatures. River flows, groundwater levels and reservoir stocks all decreased during July.