Drought declared in north Wales by environmental watchdog | UK News

North Wales has moved into drought status after “the driest six month period since 1976”.

Environmental watchdog Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said despite the change in weather, trigger levels have been met to move the area into drought status.

It follows south east Wales which declared drought earlier this month.

NRW said south west Wales had benefited from the rainfall this week and would remain at prolonged dry weather status, while being closely monitored.

Affected areas include Conwy, Anglesey, Arfon, Dwyfor, Meirionnydd, Clwyd and those served by the River Dee and Upper Severn.

NRW said more reports were being received in north Wales about streams drying up and fish found in distress.

Ben Wilson from NRW said: “The six-month period between February and July was the driest since the drought of 1976, and has placed extreme pressure on our rivers, groundwaters, agriculture and wildlife.

“In some areas, this has caused river flows and groundwater levels to drop below historic lows.”

He added that the environmental watchdog would be keeping a close eye on weather forecasts, river flows and groundwater levels as we head into autumn.

For the period between February and July, Wales as a whole has been the 16th driest in 190 years – and the driest since 1976.

So far this year Wales has received 555mm rainfall, between January and July, which is almost as dry as conditions in 2022, where the whole of Wales was placed into drought status by September.

Mr Wilson added: “As climate change accelerates, summers in the UK are expected to become drier, and extreme weather events will become more frequent and intense.

“While essential water supplies remain safe, we’re urging people to think carefully about their own water usage in the home and at work, to protect supplies for the environment as well as public water supplies.”

A spokesperson for Welsh Water said it had no plans to introduce any temporary use bans and had no concerns about any impact on our drinking water supplies.

“We have no concerns about reservoir levels across our operating area, with most at levels close to what we would expect at this time of year.”