13 Nov 2025
Image description: Sun shining in a blue sky dotted with clouds. Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash Water companies and the government are preparing emergency plans as England faces it worst drought in decades. The Guardian reports executives of a major water company predict extreme water use curtailment measures “going beyond hosepipe bans” will now […]
30 Oct 2025
Image description: Colourful Oil Spill on Muddy Ground. Photo by Abdulrahman Abubakar / Pexels The Royal Society has issued a stark warning about the risks posed by unregulated chemical mixtures in UK rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. Its latest report, Chemical mixtures in aquatic environments: understanding and preventing harm, argues that current regulatory frameworks are […]
21 Aug 2025
Image description: Haweswater reservoir. Image by Dave Noonan from Pixabay United Utilities has announced a £3bn deal to refurbish the Haweswater aqueduct, which carries water from Cumbria to 2.5m customers across Greater Manchester and Lancashire. The 68-mile pipeline is almost 70 years old, and the refurbishment has been described as ‘one of the largest […]
10 Jul 2025
Image description: A drak green hosepipe stored away in a garden. Image by VariousPhotography / Pixabay Yorkshire Water is introducing a hosepipe ban affecting more than five million people, that come into effect from Friday (11 July). It marks the first hosepipe ban to be declared in the UK this year. Yorkshire Water said […]
26 Jun 2025
Image description: A water pump with water pouring out as it is operated. Image by congerdesign from Pixabay Water abstraction surges to record levels An investigation into licensing data by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian found that the volume of water taken from rivers and lakes for industrial or public consumption in England, known […]
19 Jun 2025
Image by Jonathan Bean, Un In their new report National Framework for Water Resources 2025: water for growth, nature and a resilient future, the Environment Agency is warning that England faces a 5 billion litre a day shortage in our public water supplies by 2055 – unless urgent action is taken. The report, published […]
12 Jun 2025
Image description: Dry, cracked earth. Image by Yusuf Gündüz. National Drought Group to meet monthly The Environment Agency (EA) convened a National Drought Group meeting, following the driest spring since 1893. EA director of water, Helen Wakeham, announced the group, which is formed of the Met Office, government, regulators, water companies, farmers, and experts, […]
05 Jun 2025
Image description: Aerial view of a reservoir. Image by Kelly / Pexels. Government gives two new reservoirs the go-ahead The Environment Secretary Steve Reed has seized control of the planning process to build two major reservoirs for the first time since the 1990s, in what the government is hailing as “a significant intervention to […]
