Drought status in the UK spreads despite wet weather

Will Parsons in edie.net: The Environment Agency (EA) has this morning confirmed that the Midlands and South West regions have been moved to environmental drought status, despite last week being the wettest week across England and Wales since the start of January.

The latest counties to be affected include Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Derbyshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire, parts of Hampshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Wiltshire and Worcestershire.

However, the announcement does not, as yet, bring any additional water use restrictions in these areas. There are currently seven water companies operating temporary use bans in the UK.

This morning's announcement follows calls from the EA to ensure businesses do their part to conserve water. For example, its Drought Prospects report advised farmers to seek ways to share water resources by setting up water abstractor groups....