In early August 2026, government agencies announced that half of England and the whole of Wales were officially in drought. A drought is when an area gets so little rain over a period of time that it starts causing problems for people, farming, and nature. July 2026 was the driest July ever recorded in both countries (The Guardian, 2 August 2026).

Things moved very quickly. During the week of 17 to 23 July 2026, no areas in England were in drought status, according to Environment Agency weekly summary reports (gov.uk, 31 July 2026). On 16 July, Natural Resources Wales moved North Wales, the Upper Severn and South East Wales into "prolonged dry weather" status, which is a warning stage before a full drought is declared (gov.wales, 23 July 2026). The National Drought Group reported on 21 July that parts of southern, central and eastern England were moving closer to drought after the third heatwave of the summer (gov.uk). By 29 July, the Environment Agency had declared drought across a large area of central, eastern and southern England (gov.uk, 29 July 2026). The following week, from 24 to 30 July, over half of England was in drought status, with new areas in the north west, parts of the Midlands and Lincolnshire added (gov.uk, 31 July 2026).

The rainfall numbers were extreme. England received just 7% of the rain it normally gets in July. Southern England got just 1%. The River Thames at Reading dropped to its lowest level ever measured. Wales saw only 7.9 mm of rain, which is 8% of what it usually gets in July and almost a third of the previous July record of 22.6 mm (Met Office, 31 July 2026; BBC Weather, 31 July 2026). The Met Office confirmed on its official X account on 1 August that July 2026 was the driest on record across England and Wales (Met Office, X, 1 August 2026).

The effects were felt right away. About 23 million people across England and Wales were under a hosepipe ban by early August. A hosepipe ban means you are not allowed to use a garden hose to water plants, fill pools, or wash cars. Firefighters responded to 393 wildfires across England and Wales in July, making it the busiest month on record. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service alone recorded 48 wild, grassland and woodland fires, with full July statistics still pending (The Guardian, 2 August 2026).

Drinking water supplies were not expected to face an immediate threat. Water companies reported that record winter rainfall had kept reservoirs close to expected levels. Think of reservoirs like a savings account: the heavy winter rain deposited enough water to draw on during the dry summer.

This is the third drought in England and Wales in five years. The National Drought Group had warned as far back as October 2025 that England must prepare for an ongoing drought in 2026 unless there was significant autumn rain (gov.uk, 31 October 2025). The Met Office's longer-range projections add a starker dimension: UK summers are predicted to be 1°C to 6°C hotter and up to 60% drier by 2070 compared with 1990 (The Guardian, 2 August 2026).

The broader context here is one of more frequent and more severe droughts. Three drought events in five years, each accompanied by record-breaking dry spells, fits the pattern the Met Office has been projecting for decades ahead. The reservoir buffer from winter rainfall protected drinking water this summer, but it does not fix the growing strain on river systems, firefighting capacity, and water available for farming, all of which build up with each new drought. The real danger lies not in one dry month but in a longer rainfall shortage that stretches across years. The National Drought Group's warning in autumn 2025 about the need for significant rain was a signal that the system was already under strain before July's unprecedented dryness. Whether autumn 2026 brings enough rainfall to avoid a carryover into next year is the key question.