Severe drought declared in parts of southern England

A severe drought has been declared across parts of southern England after months of low rainfall.

It was declared in parts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex.

The announcement by the Environment Agency follows a meeting of the National Drought Group, which reviewed water resources and drought conditions across England.

Supplies have been significantly impacted by high demand following the hottest summer on record.

The latest figures show Wimbleball Reservoir on Exmoor is at 14.9% capacity. Other major reservoirs are also low, including Roadford in Devon at 36.8%, Burrator at 33.6%, Colliford in Cornwall at 35% and Stithians at 21.9%.

The Environment Agency has classed Colliford and Wimbleball as having exceptionally low levels .

The government said customer water supplies would be uninterrupted.

Declaring a severe drought "ensures proactive steps are taken to safeguard water before any disruption occurs".

Ministers instructing water companies to conduct daily monitoring of reservoir and river levels and tougher water quality monitoring

The Environment Agency to increase compliance checks on businesses that withdraw water from natural sources to ensure they are only taking permitted quantities of water

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