Hosepipe ban in force as drought threatens - is your area affected?

A drought has been declared in North Wales and the Upper Severn river basin as successive heatwaves have left water supplies under strain. Without significant rainfall in the coming days, Wales is set to record the driest July since records began 190 years ago, according to Natural Resources Wales. The hot, dry summer is depleting water supplies and driving high demand across the UK, with more than 20 million people in England and Wales currently under a hosepipe ban. This means hosepipes cannot be used for watering gardens, washing vehicles and windows and filling pools. But while spring and early summer have seen temperatures regularly exceed 30C, winter was much wetter than usual. It has raised questions about how effectively water resources are being managed, and whether the UK is prepared for drier summers expected with climate change. So how is your area doing and how close are you to a drought? There is no single definition of drought, but it often begins with a period of low rainfall. As the ground dries out, crops and vegetation can begin to struggle. If dry conditions persist, rivers, reservoirs and groundwater levels can also fall, putting pressure on water supplies. Environmental bodies in each UK nation decide whether to declare drought or water scarcity . Both drought and water scarcity can lead to hosepipe bans. While drought is driven , water scarcity occurs when demand for water outstrips the available supply. This summer, restrictions have been introduced in some areas to help manage high demand. So far, eight UK water companies have announced hosepipe bans - seven are spread across southern and eastern parts of England, and one is in Wales. North Wales and Upper Severn are the only regions in drought, with the rest of Wales in "prolonged dry weather" - the next category down. In England, the Environment Agency has declared prolonged dry weather across large parts of the country, including East Anglia, the West Midlands, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire and London, Wessex, Thames, and Solent and the South Downs. The remaining parts of England, mostly in the north, remain in "normal" status. Meanwhile, there are no official droughts currently in Northern Ireland. Scotland does not declare droughts but monitors "water scarcity". Several areas in eastern Scotland are in "moderate scarcity" but none are in the most extreme category of "significant scarcity". Our three main sources of water are rivers, reservoirs and from deep underground.