Low water levels across England are having a detrimental impact on houseboat communities and boat owners as the country faces its driest summer on record.
Following a record dry July and very low levels of rain at the start of August, 27 million people are now under water-use restrictions, with 45 million people living in drought conditions, officials from the National Drought Group said.
England and Wales experienced the driest July in 190 years, with some areas receiving no rainfall whatsoever as a result of what the Met Office dubbed “truly remarkable” conditions.
Environment Agency has shared that low levels in England are “having impacts on houseboat communities on the lower Thames, boat trips on the River Stour and sometimes stopping navigation altogether”.
They added: “There are also reports of some fish and canoe passes being closed on the River Medway, as well as several reports of vandalism at locks, which is impacting navigation and increasing issues with water resources management.”
In particular, the River Nene in Cambridgeshire has been affected by its water being used by firefighters to battle the wildfire on the Holme Fen nature reserve. Levels in the river have dropped far enough to be classed as “notably low” by the Environment Agency.
A spokesperson said: “Due to extremely low water levels, we have issued a navigational closure notice to users of the River Nene between Dog in a Doublet Lock and Orton Lock near Peterborough.
“This action follows the very dry weather and the need for Cambridgeshire Fire Service to abstract water from the Nene, because of the on-going wildfire at Holme Fen Nature Reserve.
“Our officers continue to work with the Fire Service, Natural England and partners to bring this incident to a close.”
England has received just 4mm of rain so far in August, or 6 per cent of the long-term average for the month, the Environment Agency said on Friday. It follows the driest July on record for the country, when only 7mm of rain was measured, or 10 per cent of the average.
The ongoing dry weather means that reservoir storage for England now stands at 66 per cent, down from 69 per cent a week ago and nearly 14 percentage points below the long-term average for the time of year, the Environment Agency said.
Storage stood at 85 per cent at the end of June, but has fallen steadily in recent weeks.
Five reservoirs are currently classed as having “exceptionally low” levels: Clatworthy in Somerset (48 per cent full); Clywedog in Powys, which provides water for central and north-west England (56 per cent); the Dove group of reservoirs in Derbyshire (69 per cent); Hanningfield in Essex (56 per cent); and Wimbleball in Somerset (46 per cent).