Research and analysis

Midlands water situation: August 2026 summary

Updated 14 September 2026

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

1. Summary

Despite a very dry start, August was a wetter month than July overall, with all but one of the hydrological areas receiving normal rainfall totals or higher, most of which fell in the final week of the month. Overall, the Midlands received 98% of the long term average (LTA) rainfall. Soil moisture deficits (SMDs) remained similar to the previous month, with soils still drier than is expected for the time of year. River flows increased across the month at most flow monitoring sites, as a result of rainfall in the last week of August. Compared to July, August monthly mean flow for most locations increased, with 9 out of the 20 sites recording below normal flows, and 5 recording normal flows for the time of year. Groundwater sites continue to record normal groundwater levels or higher for all but one site. Only Southards Lane is recording below normal groundwater levels. Lastly, the reservoir storage levels decreased across all 10 reservoirs, with storage levels remaining below average for the time of year.

2. Rainfall

An average of 65mm of rain fell across the Midlands in August, equating to 98% of the LTA. Rainfall was slightly higher in the north-east of the Midlands, with the Derwent hydrological catchment receiving the largest cumulative total rainfall, at 97.2mm over the month. The Lower Trent and Tame hydrological areas received slightly less rainfall, but have recorded above normal rainfall for the month, compared to the LTA. The Welsh Mountains was the only hydrological area to receive below normal rainfall, receiving 61% to the LTA rainfall. The majority of hydrological areas received normal rainfall totals for the time of year; a stark contrast to the previous month where all areas received exceptionally low rainfall totals.

Over the meteorological summer, from June to August, rainfall was below average to across most of the Midlands, with only the Tame hydrological area recording normal rainfall. The Welsh Mountains and Mid-Severn/Teme areas both received exceptionally low rainfall, and the Shropshire Plains and Lower Wye received notably low rainfall.

Over the last 6 months, all hydrological areas recorded below normal, notably low or exceptionally low rainfall. Once again, the Welsh Mountains and Mid-Severn/Teme hydrological areas recorded exceptionally low rainfall over this period, in addition to the Avon and Lower Wye hydrological areas.

Over the past 12 months, most hydrological areas in the west side of the Midlands recorded above normal rainfall over this time, while the majority in the east recorded notably high rainfall.

3. Soil moisture deficit and recharge

Despite recent rainfall, SMD continued to remain high during August throughout the Midlands, as a result of sustained high temperatures and lack of rainfall over most of the summer. At the end of August, most areas recorded between 101mm and 160mm of SMD, with each area recording similar deficits to the previous month.

Soils remain considerably drier than expected for the time of year across all areas of the Midlands, particularly in West Midlands where deficits are greatest.

4. River flows

Following rainfall in the last week of August, daily mean river flows increased at nearly all indicator sites in the Midlands from the start to the end of the month. This was most notable in the north-east of the area where the highest rainfall totals were received.

In terms of monthly mean flows, 9 of the flow indicator sites recorded below normal flows for August. This is a slight improvement on the previous month, when the majority of sites recorded notably low monthly mean flow. This month, five sites recorded exceptionally low flows. These were Bewdley, Ebley Mill, Llanyblodwel, Redbrook and Tenbury. One site – Butts Bridge, recorded notably low flows. All of these sites are located in the west and south parts of the Midlands. A total of 5 sites recorded normal monthly mean flows for August, the majority of which were in the north-east of the region.

5. Groundwater levels   

At the end of August, the majority of Midlands groundwater sites recorded normal or higher groundwater levels compared to the LTA. Ram Hall, St Mary’s Church and Rider Point in the central part of the region were classed as normal. Two sites, Weir Farm and Four Crosses in the north-west of the Midlands, were classed as above normal. Anthonys Cross in south-western and Crossely Hill in the north-east of the Midlands were classed as notably high. Southards Lane was classed as below normal while Coxmoor also in the north-east of Midlands recorded exceptionally high groundwater levels. 

Groundwater levels at sites within the sandstone aquifers were mostly classed as above normal or higher. In contrast, groundwater levels in the Carboniferous limestone and mudstone aquifers were generally classed as normal or below normal.

6. Reservoir stocks

Of the reservoir presented in this water situation report, all 10 continue to have below average storage for this time of year. The storage levels of these reservoirs have also all decreased since the end of June. The biggest drop is Clywedog with a 25% reduction in storage. Draycote reservoir recorded the smallest reduction in storage, at 5%. By end the of August, all reservoirs shown had storage between 31% to 76%.

7. Environmental impact 

West Midlands area moved to drought incident status on 28 July whilst East Midlands moved into drought on 10 August. We continue to work with water companies and other abstractors to manage water resources and take precautionary actions where needed.

8. River Severn operations

The River Severn is regulated to maintain a minimum flow at Bewdley gauging station. This ensures sufficient water flows along the river to support environmental and water supply requirements. Regulation is instigated when flows drop below a threshold. Regulation was instigated when flows dropped below the threshold on 20 June and as of 30 August, there have been 71 days of Severn Regulation so far. No regulation releases were made on the last day of August.

9. River Wye operations

Following on from the previous month, flows remain below the threshold at Redbrook and so regulation releases continued to be required. Therefore, regulation releases were made and continued to be required for the entirety of August.

10. Water abstraction restrictions

As of 31 August there are 118 water abstraction licence restrictions in place across the Midlands affecting 486 licences in total.

Author: Midlands Hydrology, midlandshydrology@environment-agency.gov.uk

Contact Details: 03708 506 506

Disclaimer: All data are provisional and may be subject to revision. The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the Environment Agency. Its officers, servants or agents accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from the interpretation or use of the information, or reliance upon views contained in this report.