Reservoir levels rise as rain pours down - but Yorkshire still classed in drought

Archive pic: A dog walker battles the galeforce wind and rain on Otley Chevin.
Picture Bruce Rollinson — Archive pic: A dog walker battles the galeforce wind and rain on Otley Chevin. Picture Bruce Rollinson

Yorkshire had the same amount of rainfall in September and October as it did over the whole summer, according to Environment Agency data.

The region is still officially in drought and the hosepipe ban applies.

In the past six weeks reservoir levels have risen 19 per cent, but are still below the level expected for this time of year, Yorkshire Water said.

South Yorkshire’s reservoirs are still “much lower” than normal and people are being asked to save water.

Granville Davies, manager of water and catchment strategy at Yorkshire Water, said: “Reservoir levels are moving in the right direction – we're seeing some significant increases week on week as the rainfall, drought permits, additional leakage activity, and support from our customers to save water, help them to top up.

“We have had more rain recently than the previous summer months, but that rain doesn’t always fall evenly across the whole region – meaning that in some areas, such as South Yorkshire, reservoir levels are still much lower than we would hope.”

Mr Davies said they were shifting water around the region through their network and had applied to the Environment Agency for extra measures to help balance stocks in South Yorkshire.