Research and analysis

Midlands water situation report: April 2025 summary

Updated 14 May 2025

Applies to England

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

1. Summary

Please see Section 7.3 for a map detailing the Midlands regional coverage of this report.

Rainfall - April was a particularly dry month for the time of year. The majority of the Midlands hydrological catchments received below normal or notably low rainfall totals of the month. The exception being the Lower Wye which received normal rainfall totals.

Soil moisture deficit - Due to lack of rainfall soils are drier than average for the time of year. All hydrological catchments except the Welsh Mountains recorded a soil moisture deficit (SMD) of between 41mm to 70mm. The Welsh Mountains recorded a SMD between 11mm to 40mm.

River flows - The majority of flow monitoring sites recorded either below normal or exceptionally low average flows for the time of year. Two sites recorded notably low and 2 sites recorded normal flows compared to the long term average (LTA) of April.

Groundwater levels - As of the end of April, all sites recorded normal or above groundwater levels, except for one site which recorded below normal levels.

Reservoir stocks - As of the end of April, 3 reservoirs in the Midlands recorded above average storage for the time of year. The remaining 7 recorded below average storage for the time of year.

2. Rainfall

April was particularly dry month for the time of year. Seven hydrological catchments received below normal rainfall totals for the month, ranging from 45% to 61% of the LTA. Four catchments in the north-east of the Midlands received notably low rainfall totals. These were the Dove, Derwent, Lower Trent and Soar, which received rainfall totals ranging from 22% to 38% of the LTA. The Lower Wye was the only hydrological catchment that received normal rainfall totals of 63% of the LTA.

During the last 3 months, 3 hydrological catchments have received notably low rainfall totals, ranging from 54% to 57% of the LTA for February to April. These were Lower Wye, Lower Severn and Avon. The other 9 catchments received exceptionally low rainfall totals, ranging from 37% to 50% of the LTA for February to April.

Over the past 6 months, 5 hydrological catchments have received below normal rainfall totals, ranging 79% to 83% of the LTA for November to April. These were Welsh Mountains, Upper Trent, Dove, Derwent and Tame. The remaining hydrological catchments have received normal rainfall totals, ranging from 83% to 95% of the LTA for November to February.

Lastly, over the last 12 months, the majority hydrological catchments received normal rainfall totals, ranging from 94% to 110% of the LTA. Two hydrological catchments received above normal rainfall totals. They were the Lower Severn which received 118% of the LTA, and Shropshire Plains which received 114% of the LTA. The Welsh Mountains was the only hydrological catchment to receive below normal rainfall totals at 92% of the LTA.

3. Soil moisture deficit and recharge

By the end of April, all hydrological catchments except the Welsh Mountains recorded a SMD of between 41mm to 70mm. The Welsh Mountains recorded a SMD of 11mm to 40mm. Soils in April were therefore drier compared to the previous month of March, when all the catchments recorded a SMD of 11mm to 40mm.

All of the Midlands hydrological catchments, except Welsh Mountains, during April had a 26mm to 50mm difference in SMD from the LTA. This means soils for these catchments were drier compared to the previous month of March. The Welsh Mountains recorded a difference of 6mm to 25mm from the LTA. This means SMD is greater than expected for the time of year, with soils being drier than the LTA.

4. River flows

In April, 8 flow monitoring sites in the Midlands recorded exceptionally low monthly mean flows ranging from 27% to 46% of the LTA. Two sites recorded notably low mean flows at North Muskham, and Yoxhall. Eight sites recorded below normal monthly mean flows ranging from 46% to 72% of the LTA. A further 2 sites recorded normal monthly mean flows. These were Worksop and Evesham.

Wedderburn Bridge gauges is currently removed from this report due to data issues

5. Groundwater levels

As of the end of April, the majority of groundwater levels recorded normal or higher compared to the LTA. Weir Farm recorded exceptionally high groundwater levels compared to the LTA. Two sites recorded notably high groundwater levels compared to the LTA. These were Anthony’s Cross and Coxmoor. A further 2 sites recorded above normal groundwater levels compared to the LTA. These were Crossley Hill and Four Crosses. Two sites recorded normal groundwater levels compared to the LTA. These were Ram Hall and St Mary’s Church. Rider Point recorded below normal groundwater levels compared to the LTA.

Southards Lane is currently removed from this report due to data issues.

6. Reservoir stocks

As of the end of April, 3 reservoirs in the Midlands recorded above average storage for the time of year. The remaining 7 recorded below average storage for the time of year, with the end of month storage percentage for these ranging from 76% to 97%. The reservoirs recording below average storage were Clywedog, Vyrnwy, Derwent, Tittesworth, Blithfield, Elan, and Charnwood. The majority of these reservoirs have seen a decrease in storage levels over April. Derwent saw the biggest decrease in storage, decreasing from approximately 85% to 76% storage over the month. The only reservoirs to see an increase were Carsington and Ogston and Dove reservoirs. Similar to March, no reservoirs by the end of April were at 100% storage. Due to works at Blithfield reservoir, data was missing from 26 February to 3 March. Therefore, data was interpolated for Blithfield for this period.

7. 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. In April, the River Severn regulation was not instigated.

8. River Wye operations

Throughout April, flows at Redbrook were above the regulation threshold. Therefore, regulation releases were not in operation during April. Though regulation releases were instigated as of 2 May.

9. Water abstraction restrictions

As of the end of April there were 13 water abstraction licence restrictions in place across the Midlands affecting 23 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.