20 Aug 2026

Photo by Dibakar Roy on Unsplash Countries around the world are bracing for food price rises as a result of damage to harvests from record heat and lack of water, and the World Food Programme predicts that 50 million more people could be pushed into hunger by the “super El Niño” weather system currently developing. It is […]

20 Aug 2026

Photo by Emma Wurfel on Unsplash   Thames Water on alert to re-activate UK’s only mainland desalination plant The UK’s only mainland desalination plant may be restarting operations later this year, says Thames Water. The utility firm, which operates the plant in Beckton, east London, is on alert to activate the facility as London reservoir […]

20 Aug 2026

Photo by Johnny Such on Unsplash   The UK government announced a £65mn funding package on Friday (14 August), to improve water access and drought resilience for struggling farmers. The measures announced include up to £15 million for on-farm reservoirs and plans to make it easier to develop new water storage infrastructure. Using the “C” word […]

20 Aug 2026

Photo by Tom Wheatley on Unsplash   Where are the water company emergency drought plans? The Guardian reports that the UK government is being accused of acting irresponsibly by refusing to publish water companies’ emergency drought plans. Water firms are required to publish statutory drought plans every five years to set out how they will […]

13 Aug 2026

Image description: Panoramic views of Hertfordshire’s rural heartland. The short-cut agricultural grass is yellowed and dry. Image credits: Photo by Jan Kraus on Unsplash   45 million people in England now experiencing drought Drought conditions in England have continued to persist with a dry start to August, putting almost three-quarters of England in drought, affecting […]

11 Aug 2026

Photo by Sebastien Gabriel   Global sea surface temperatures reached their highest level ever recorded for the month of July, according to new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), as a prolonged marine heatwave around the UK edges towards rare “extreme” territory and much of England and Wales is declared officially in drought. […]

05 Aug 2026

Photo credit: Yihong Chen   The US government has stepped in to break a long stalemate over the drought-stricken Colorado River, proposing cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet a year for the three lower basin states. The Interior Department’s preferred management framework, published on 31 July, would reduce the allocation of Arizona, California and […]