North East water situation: November 2025 summary
Updated 11 December 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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November was a very wet month, with prolonged heavy rainfall impacting the area throughout the month. Rainfall totals for November were well above average in all catchments. Monthly mean river flows saw a large increase at all indicator sites and now fall within the normal, above normal and notably high ranges. Soil moisture deficits (SMD) saw significant improvements following the prolonged rainfall and now soils across all catchments are classed as fully saturated. All reservoir stocks have increased significantly this month and are healthy for November.
1. Rainfall
Monthly rainfall totals were above the long term average (LTA) for all catchments and ranged from 158% of the LTA in both the Tweed and Tyne catchments to 183% of the LTA in the Tees catchment. Analysis of the daily rainfall totals show rainfall was recorded on virtually every day of the month, with the largest totals on 12 and 25 of November. Cumulative totals up to 7 months are now in the normal or higher bandings; a significant improvement from earlier in the year during the period of prolonged dry weather. It is only the 11 month totals which have any catchments still in the notably low category: the Tweed, Northumberland and Wear catchments.
2. Soil moisture deficit and recharge
SMDs have seen a large decrease across the whole area. All catchments have less than 10mm of SMD and are considered fully saturated. This is a significant improvement over the last 2 months and should allow groundwater recharge to begin across the North East.
3. River flows
Monthly mean river flows have seen a large increase this month from those in October at all indicator sites and fall within the normal, above normal and notably high ranges. Monthly mean flows ranged from 108% of the LTA at Hartford Bridge on the River Blyth to 190% of the LTA at Mitford on the River Wansbeck. Analysis of daily mean flows shows that flows were low at the start of the month in the below normal or normal ranges. Rainfall across the area continued throughout the first week of the month and daily mean flows increased. On 12 to 14 November Storm Claudia reached the area and brought prolonged heavy rainfall. Exceptionally high river flows were recorded across all indicator sites. Daily mean flows recorded on these days were the highest recorded so far in 2025. Following this, flows generally decreased a little but remained elevated across the whole area. On 25 November another large rainfall event was recorded and flows increased at all indicator sites again. At the end of the month daily mean flows fell within the normal, above normal and notably high ranges.
4. Groundwater levels
Groundwater levels have remained in the same range at all indicator sites. West Hall Farm is within the notably high range, which is understood to be the result of a reduction in nearby abstraction volumes rather than a climatic response. All other indicator sites fall within the normal range for the time of year.
5. Reservoir stocks
All reservoir stocks across the area have increased significantly this month. The largest percentage increase was in the North Tynedale group which increased by 22.3% from 58.1% to 80.4% full. Kielder, the Durham group and the Lune and Balder group now all have reservoir stocks greater than 90% full. All reservoirs except Derwent are above the average for November.
| Reservoir or reservoir group | Percentage of current stocks | Percentage of previous month stocks |
|---|---|---|
| Kielder | 91.4 | 79.4 |
| North Tynedale group | 80.4 | 58.1 |
| Derwent | 54.8 | 39.7 |
| Durham group | 97.1 | 80.2 |
| Lune and Balder group | 98.5 | 90.2 |
| Cow Green | 86.1 | 65.5 |
Author: Environment Agency, hydrology.northeast@environment-agency.gov.uk
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.