The Environment Agency (EA) said on Wednesday that large parts of central, eastern, and southern England had been declared in drought amid low rainfall and high temperatures.

The agency listed East Anglia, Hertfordshire and the whole of London, the Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Devon and Cornwall, the West Midlands, and Wessex—which covers Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and south Gloucestershire—as regions in drought.

It said in a statement that inadequate rainfall and high temperatures had increased the risk of wildfires, caused early crop harvests, and affected farm reservoirs and migratory fish, with millions of people already “living under restrictions on water use.”

The agency said some parts of Devon had gone 50 days without rain, while parts of Hampshire had recorded 49 consecutive dry days.

According to the agency, 78 per cent of England’s rivers are now classified as below normal or lower.

“There have been 110 wildfires on sites of special scientific interest so far this year, including Dovestone and Tintwistle in the Peak District,” it added.

With a fourth heatwave underway, authorities have issued amber alerts for the East Midlands, East of England, London, and the South East.

To mitigate drought impacts, the agency said seven water companies had introduced temporary water-use restrictions affecting nearly 23 million people, while low river flows also prompted 1,506 abstraction licence restrictions.

The agency said it had intensified its operational response by monitoring and controlling water withdrawals from rivers and groundwater.

Helen Wakeham, the director of Water at the Environment Agency and chair of the National Drought Group, warned that people now use water faster than nature can replenish it because of the hot and dry weather.

Water Minister Emma Hardy said at a drought briefing on Tuesday that greater preparedness was needed as droughts become “increasingly common”. 

“The current drought now means there have been three droughts in the past five years—2022, 2025, and now 2026,” Ms Hardy said.

She said the weather had dramatically shifted from a very wet winter, which replenished reservoirs and groundwater, to an exceptionally hot and dry summer. However, she warned that water storage had begun to decline following three heatwaves.

The minister added that only seven per cent of the expected average rainfall had been recorded in July, falling to just one per cent in southern England, with no substantial rainfall forecast.

She said the government was investing in long-term water infrastructure, including nine new reservoirs, and urged water companies to follow drought plans, reduce leaks, and maintain supplies during the dry weather.