Reservoirs have hit record lows, severe drought has been declared in parts of England and large areas of the country face hosepipe bans. The Government says more than £100bn is being invested in water infrastructure, with nine new reservoirs in the pipeline. But, after the hottest summer on record for the UK, are we prepared for a future of more extreme weather? And how close are we to running out of water?

Wimbleball reservoir on Exmoor attracts visitors not only to sail and row, but also so admire the scenery and take a walk.

These days the lake is getting visitors for another reason - to marvel at how empty the Somerset landmark is, even after storms of the past week.

"It's shocking looking at it," said Michael Bertulis. "You can see where the water level should be.

"We need some rain".

The reservoir can hold more than 21 billion litres and provides drinking water to around 400,000 people across Devon, parts of Somerset and Dorset.

Earlier this month it hit a record low of being 12.5% full.

"It's never been as low and it's worrying", said Andrea Worley of Wimbleball Rowing Club. "But we don't know how long the water is going to last".

On 15 October severe drought was declared across parts of Southern England, including Sussex and the South West.

Storm Austen and Storm Boelo - the first named storms of the year - brought heavy rain to much of the country last week.

It led to a slight increase in the level of the South West's reservoirs, including Wimbleball. It rose from being 12.5% full on the 22 October to 14% four days later, on 26 October.

Other reservoirs considered "critically low" have also seen levels rise slightly, including Stithians and Drift in Cornwall, and Venford in Devon.

The Environment Agency (EA) has said England needs 120% of its typical rainfall, for the country to be out of drought by spring next year.

Mark Rice, area director for the EA in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly said the drought could extend to nest summer if rainfall does not reach this level.

He said: "If we get average or below average rainfall, we're potentially going to be in a prolonged drought situation going into next summer.

"It means we're going to have to work really closely with the water companies to ensure we can manage water supplies sensibly and ensure there is no disruption to supply, either this winter or into next summer".

"We need to be really clear with the public, our water resources are reduced but they are not under threat", added Rice, referring to the area he covers in the South West.

"We won't run out of water this winter", he added.

"We were concerned" Richard Stanbrook, South West Water's drought programme director, said after reservoirs dropped to "incredibly low" levels.

The company was granted drought permits by the EA that allows it to abstract more water from some rivers and discharge less into the environment from reservoirs.

Asked how close the South West came to running out of water, Standbrook said: "We were close but every step we took meant that it wasn't something that was very likely to happen".

"We worked closely with the Environment Agency, with everyone involved in water to improve our capability to supply water to customers", he added.

"We did, in the very unlikely event of running out of water, we were working with the EA and other stakeholders on any emergency plans".

According to the Met Office, the summer of 2026 was the hottest on record.

There was persistent heat throughout the spring and summer, with five widespread heatwaves and 40 days of temperatures above 30C (86F), smashing the previous record of 34 days.

A study by the Met Office said that the heat experienced this summer was made 130 times more likely by human-induced climate change.

Professor Liz Bentley, chief executive at the Royal Meteorological Society said this drought - although similar in severity to those seen in 1995 and 1976 - was different.

She said: "We started 2026 on a particularly wet note, with one of the wettest winters on record but we then went into that exceptionally hot, dry period.

"It was more of a flash drought, it happened really quickly.

"And I think that's very much a signal of climate change.

Bentley added: "We need to be much better at capturing rainfall during the wetter winters, to use during the drier summers..

"This is the climate we are going to have to get used to, it's becoming the new norm."

Water restrictions are in place across large parts of England, with residents and businesses being urged to be careful with the amount they are using.

A partial hosepipe ban was initially introduced by South West Water in July, and it was then extended to cover the whole of the area covered by the utility company in August.

Stanbrook said the hosepipe ban was likely to be in place for a "significant period", adding that reservoirs needed "a strong recharge over the course of the winter".

Stanbrook also said he hoped customers would "lean in" and continue to be careful with water.

The company has also applied to the Government to potentially bring in a non-essential use ban, a restriction that would impact some businesses, including car washes and window cleaners.

Water UK represents water companies across the UK and said it was "incredibly grateful" to customers attempting to protect water supplies by limiting usage.

It repeated the need for significant rain in the coming months to "refill reservoirs and replenish groundwater".

"After being blocked from building a new reservoir for more than 30 years, water companies have finally been given approval to build nine, plus a 10th already under construction at Havant Thicket.

"We need planning hurdles cleared so we can build reservoirs quickly and we need major reform to ensure we are not in this situation again."

The government has said the measures being taken to tackle severe drought "sit alongside long-term measures" it is taking with water companies to "strengthen the UK's water resilience after decades of underinvestment".

"This includes investing £104bn to upgrade water infrastructure, building nine new reservoirs across the country to increase water supply, and changing planning rules to make it easier to build reservoirs".

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