21 Jul 2026

Photo Credit: AdobeStock   The most comprehensive UK-wide assessment yet of where and how sensitive marine species are being accidentally caught in fishing gear has been published by Clean Catch, the Defra-funded bycatch mitigation programme. The literature review and a shorter policy brief identify four broad hotspot fisheries in UK waters, set out the species most at risk in each, […]

21 Jul 2026

Photo Credit: AdobeStock   Work to remove the three masts from the SS Richard Montgomery, the American Second World War Liberty ship that sank in the Thames Estuary in 1944 with 1,400 tonnes of unexploded munitions still on board, will begin in early September, the Department for Transport has confirmed. The £9.5 million operation, which […]

21 Jul 2026

Photo Credit: AdobeStock   Southern Water has been fined £7,127,083 at Canterbury Crown Court for a series of illegal sewage discharges from pumping stations at Margate and Broadstairs between 2019 and 2021 that led Thanet District Council to close beaches at the height of successive summers. The company pleaded guilty earlier this year to 13 […]

21 Jul 2026

Photo Credit: AdobeStock   The UK Maritime Innovation Hub is emerging as a central point of engagement between innovators and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the agency says in a progress update on its first three months of operation. Since its formal showcase at the Flag Forum in London on 16 April 2026, the […]

16 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Oleksandr Sushko The heat and rainfall deficit affecting the UK extends well across the North Sea, with Dutch authorities warning of a looming water shortage and the Rhine falling to levels that threaten to halt freight. The National Water Distribution Coordination Committee scaled the Netherlands up to level 1, an impending water shortage, on […]

16 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Anthony de Sigley – Own work, Public Domain Southern Water has pleaded guilty to two environmental permit breaches after a dark plume of pollution entered the River Test in Hampshire. The company admitted the charges at Medway Magistrates Court on 14 July, with two further charges to be taken into consideration. Sentencing will follow at […]

16 Jul 2026

Photo credit: Seiya Maeda Most people in England support hosepipe bans when water levels fall, but a substantial minority think it unfair to be asked to cut back before water companies have taken visible steps of their own. The finding comes from research by Ipsos for the Environment Agency, published on 15 July, based on a […]