Midlands water situation: September 2025 summary
Updated 14 October 2025
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-situation-local-area-reports/midlands-water-situation-september-2025-summary
1. Summary
Rainfall – In September, all Midlands hydrological catchments received more than 100% of their long term average (LTA) rainfall. The amount of rainfall received across the region ranged between normal to notably high compared to the LTA.
Soil moisture deficit – Soil moisture deficit (SMD) across the Midlands has decreased in September from the previous month, meaning soils have become wetter. By the end of the month, SMD was above average for the time of the year meaning soils have become drier.
River flows – In September, the majority of the sites recorded normal and above mean monthly flows. Two sites recorded below normal with one further site recording notably low mean monthly flows.
Groundwater levels – As of the end of September, all of the Midlands groundwater sites recorded normal or higher groundwater levels compared to the LTA with the exception of Southards Lane which recorded notably low.
Reservoir stocks – By the end of September, all but one of the reported Midlands reservoirs had below average storage compared to the LTA. Vrynwy recorded above average storage compared to the LTA.
2. Rainfall
In September, all Midlands hydrological catchments received more than 100% of their LTA rainfall. The wettest areas relative to their LTA were classified as having received notably low rainfall totals ranging between 172% to 198% of their typical totals. These were the Welsh Mountains, Shropshire Plains, Mid Severn/Teme, Dove and Derwent, with the Welsh Mountains recording its 9th wettest September rainfall since records began in 1871.
In addition, above normal rainfall was further recorded in the Lower Wye, Lower Severn, Upper Trent and the Lower Trent, with totals ranging from 136% to 156% of their LTA.
Although September in the Midlands has recorded a wetter month than the previous month, the Midlands’ 7 month cumulative rainfall (March 2025 to September 2025) is still ranked 4th driest since records began in 1871.
Over the last 3 months, 6 of the hydrological catchments spread across the north of the Midlands, received normal rainfall totals ranging from 88% to 104% of their 3 month LTA. The remaining 6 received below normal rainfall totals ranging from 68% to 82% of their 3 month LTA. These were Tame, Soar, Avon, Lower Severn, Lower Wye and Mid Severn/Teme.
During the last 6 months, all hydrological catchments in the Midlands, except for Welsh Mountains, had less than normal rainfall. These ranged between below normal and exceptionally low rainfall totals. The driest catchments, relative to their 6 month LTA, occurred in the southern half of the region. These were classed as having received exceptionally low rainfall totals ranging between 56% and 66% of their 6 month LTA. In addition, 2 hydrological catchments received notably low rainfall totals, these were Mid Severn/Teme and Lower Trent. Those areas classified as having received below normal rainfall totals, occurred in the Shropshire Plains, Upper Trent, Derwent and Dove. These areas ranged between 73% and 81% of their 6 month LTA.
Looking at the last 12 months rainfall totals combined, all hydrological catchments in the Midlands received below normal or notably low rainfall totals. The driest catchments were the Avon, Tame, Soar and Lower Trent, which were all classified as notably low having received between 76% to 81% of their LTA. All other catchments recorded below normal rainfall totals respective to their LTA.
3. Soil moisture deficit and recharge
SMD across the Midlands in September has decreased since last month, meaning that soils have become wetter. The majority of the hydrological catchments recorded a SMD value of 71mm to 100mm. The Avon and the Soar recorded the driest soils for September in the Midlands, receiving SMD values between 101mm and 130mm. Derwent, Dove and Shropshire Plains recorded SMD values between 41mm and 70mm, and the Welsh Mountains recording a SMD value between 11mm to 40mm.
4. River flows
In September, the majority of the sites in the Midlands recorded normal monthly mean flows ranging from 39% to 111% of their LTA. Three sites, scattered across the west of the Midlands, recorded above normal monthly mean flows. These occurred within the Severn and were Llanyblodwel, Bewdley and Deerhurst ranging between 127% and 165% of their LTA. Two sites, Derby St Marys in the north-east and Butts Bridge in the west, received below normal monthly mean flows. Ebley Mill in the south recorded notably low monthly mean flow.
Wedderburn Bridge has been showing unreliable data from September 2024 onwards, therefore, data has been removed from this report. Due to current issues with recording at low flows affecting Deerhurst, data for Haw Bridge was used in place of Deerhurst.
5. Groundwater levels
At the end of September, all sites except Southards Lane recorded normal or higher groundwater levels compared to their LTA. Southards Lane in the north-east recorded notably low groundwater levels. Weir Farm in the west and Crossley Hill in the north-east, both located on Sandstone geology, recorded above normal groundwater levels relative to their LTA. Coxmoor in the north-east recorded notably high. The remaining 5 sites all recorded normal groundwater levels.
6. Reservoir stocks
By the end of September all the reported Midlands reservoirs, with the exception of Vyrnwy, had below average storage compared to the LTA. They ranged between 24% at Charnwood and 74% at Clywedog. Vyrnwy, which had above average storage, was at 93%.
7. Environmental impact
Both the West Midlands and East Midlands areas moved into drought incident status on 15 July 2025. We continue to work with water companies and other abstractors to manage water resources and take precautionary actions. A number of low flow alleviation schemes are also active across the region.
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. The 2025 regulation season has seen 86 days of river regulation, which commenced on 9 May 2025. The last day of regulation was 11 September 2025.
9. River Wye operations
Following on from the previous month, River Wye Regulation continued throughout all of September. As of 22 September, storage in the Elan Valley reservoirs was above the release control line. For most of September, the flows at Redbrook gauging station were below the regulation threshold. However, between 15 September to 28 September, Redbrook gauging station was above the regulation threshold.
10. Water abstraction restrictions
As of the end of September, there are 74 water abstraction licence restrictions in place across the Midlands affecting 181 licences in total.
Please refer to the appendices for a full list of water abstraction licence restrictions.
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.