On 8 November 2025, The Guardian reported:

Government and water companies are devising emergency plans for worst water shortage in decades
Water companies and the government are drawing up emergency plans for a drought next year more extreme than we have seen in decades.

Executives at one major water company told the Guardian they were extremely concerned about the prospect of a winter with lower than average rainfall, which the Met Office’s long-term forecast says is likely. They said if this happened, the water shortfall would mean taking drastic water use curtailment measures “going beyond hosepipe bans”.

Read the full article by Helena Horton on The Guardian website.