England’s drought-hit regions are beginning to recover after a month of exceptional rainfall, but farming leaders are being warned that the industry must use the winter months to rebuild water resilience before the next dry spell arrives.
The National Drought Group heard on Monday (8 December) that November delivered 149% of the long-term average rainfall, helping to replenish rivers, groundwater and reservoirs after one of the most challenging years for farm water availability in over a decade.
The downpours have pushed the East and West Midlands out of drought status after 21 weeks, while Yorkshire and the North East are also showing encouraging signs of recovery. Farmers in the North West, the first region to declare drought back in May, are now back to normal conditions.
But officials stressed that recovery remains fragile, and many agricultural areas — including parts of Sussex supplied by South East Water — remain in drought, a reminder that the impacts on soils, pasture growth and stored water supplies do not disappear overnight. National reservoir stocks currently sit at 79.8%, just below the seasonal average.
For many farms, the rain has helped refill on-farm reservoirs and lagoons, although some livestock units and irrigated cropping systems are still dealing with the legacy of depleted summer stores.
With eight out of the past eleven months delivering below-average rainfall, the Environment Agency is now deploying advanced scientific tools to help the farming sector prepare for future extremes.
Working with the Alan Turing Institute, the EA is using high-resolution river flow modelling to better understand exactly how much water is available across catchments and to spot the early signs of a developing drought.
Helen Wakeham, director of water at the Environment Agency and chair of the National Drought Group, said recent rain had taken pressure off many catchments, but “we are not out of the woods yet.”
She urged households and rural businesses to continue using water efficiently “while our environment recovers from the impacts of the recent drought.” She added that the EA is using “the latest science to understand drought” ahead of what could still be a difficult 2026.
For farmers, the message is clear: winter is the time to prepare. The Group advised those with abstraction licences to check their conditions carefully and contact the EA early if flexibility is needed next season.
Producers were also encouraged to capture as much winter rainwater as possible, expand on-farm storage where feasible, and plan water-sharing arrangements with neighbours. Guidance for abstracting floodwater outside normal licence conditions during flood events is available from the EA.
Chief Scientist Dr Robert Bradburne told the meeting that new data tools and customer-use insights now allow the EA to examine the water system “from source to tap” with unprecedented accuracy.
This includes assessing how much water can safely be abstracted for crops and livestock without harming the environment, and identifying where future infrastructure — such as new reservoirs, pipes or smarter leak detection — will be needed.
Drought recovery can also be highly unstable. Officials emphasised that it is possible for flooding and drought to occur simultaneously, as seen this year when heavy rain landed on depleted soils and low river basins still sensitive to the effects of prolonged dryness.
The EA’s latest Drought Prospects report warns that typical rainfall will be needed through to the end of March to avoid the risk of renewed drought in 2026.
Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “This year’s drought has been a challenge and, while I welcome the improving picture, we cannot be complacent because climate change will bring more droughts and floods in future.”
She urged water companies to build resilience over winter and highlighted government plans for nine new reservoirs, upgraded pipes and reduced leakage.
The Met Office also cautioned farmers against assuming the problem has passed. Sarah Davies, head of environment and energy, said autumn rainfall was “notably wet,” but reminded the Group that “a single wet season does not necessarily ‘correct’ the impacts of two preceding dry seasons.”
England’s autumn rainfall was more than double the spring and summer total combined, she said, yet sustained winter rainfall will still be essential for the full recovery of soils, groundwater and river systems.
Over the winter, the National Drought Group — which includes the NFU, water companies, the Met Office, regulators and environmental bodies — will continue working to refine drought planning and strengthen long-term resilience for the farming sector and wider rural economy.
