Yep, the grass is crunchy, your water butt is empty, and now it’s official

As if the East Midlands needed another thing to worry about, the region has officially been declared in drought after months of relentless sunshine and approximately three raindrops.

According to the National Drought Group, nearly three-quarters of England is now living in drought conditions. That’s around 45 million people collectively staring at brown lawns and wondering if they’ve forgotten what clouds look like.

The East Midlands joins Kent, East Sussex, Solent and the South Downs in the latest round of drought declarations. Basically, if you’ve looked out of your window recently and thought “it’s a bit dry, isn’t it?”, congratulations, you were right.

Things have got so bad that July 2026 has gone down as England’s driest July since records began in 1836. Which means Victorian people saw more rain than we did. Somehow.

In Nottinghamshire, fish at Brierley Forest Park were reportedly struggling because lake oxygen levels dropped during the hot weather. The Environment Agency stepped in with a pump, making it one of the few occasions fish have received better support than most rental tenants.

Across the East Midlands, rainfall has been below average for five straight months. The spring and summer period has been the driest since 1995 and ranks among the driest in more than 150 years of records.

Meanwhile, more than 27 million people across England are now under water-use restrictions, meaning hosepipe bans are becoming a more familiar summer accessory than sunglasses.

The Environment Agency says river levels, reservoirs and groundwater supplies are continuing to fall, while rising temperatures are putting wildlife, agriculture and water supplies under increasing pressure.

Officials are urging people to save water where they can, so expect your parents or partners to start timing your showers and reminding you that “we didn’t have these problems in my day.”

The Government says it’s looking at additional support for farmers and wants water companies to do more to tackle leaks, which apparently become worse when dry soil causes pipes to shift.

So, in summary: the East Midlands is in drought, the fish are receiving emergency assistance, the grass has given up entirely, and we’re all suddenly treating a rainy afternoon like a major cultural event. 🌧️

• 71.3% of England is now in drought, including the East Midlands
• July was so dry it broke records that have been kept since 1836
• The government is scrambling for solutions, while farmers are understandably having a bit of a nightmare