Water scarcity report - 04 September 2025
Significant Scarcity is now affecting the River Avon and the Lower Spey, and the Whiteadder Water and Berwick Coastal catchments. These areas join North Fife, and the Deveron, Upper and Lower Don (Aberdeenshire) and Lower Tweed river catchments, as well as part of the Ythan catchment, which all remain at Significant Scarcity.
The Findhorn, Upper Spey, Dee (Aberdeen), Esk (Angus), Firth of Forth, Almond and Tyne (Lothian) catchments remain at Moderate Scarcity, as well as the wider Ythan and Tweed catchments.
The Thurso, Shin, Conon and Inverness (East) areas have been raised to Alert, joining Orkney and Helmsdale.
The Clyde, Tay and Earn catchments have recovered to Early Warning. The rest of the country remains at Early Warning or Normal Conditions.
Situation summary
This week, the River Avon and Lower Spey, and the Whiteadder Water and Berwick Coastal catchments, reached Significant Scarcity. Significant Scarcity is already affecting North Fife, and the Deveron, Upper and Lower Don (Aberdeenshire) and Lower Tweed river catchments, as well as part of the Ythan catchment.
Unless there is sustained rainfall in the coming days Significant Scarcity could be reached in several other eastern areas next week. In the north-east, the River Findhorn, Findhorn East, the South Ugie Water, the Lower Dee and the Water of Feugh, and the Lunan Water are all at risk. Further south, the Leven and the East Neuk (Fife), the Tyne (Lothian), the Upper Tweed, and Mid-Tweed and Lauderdale are also at risk. You can monitor this on the Drought Risk Assessment Tool.
SEPA have issued temporary restrictions on some licences to abstract water from the environment in the areas that have reached significant water scarcity. For further information see Significant water scarcity guidance.
Much of the east coast remains at Moderate Scarcity. The Findhorn, Upper Spey, Dee (Aberdeen), Esk (Angus), Firth of Forth, Almond and Tyne (Lothian) catchments remain at Moderate Scarcity, as well as those parts of the Ythan and Tweed catchments not affected by Significant Scarcity.
Further north, the Thurso, Shin, Conon and Inverness (East) areas have been raised to Alert, due to drying ground conditions and sustained very low river flows. These areas join Helmsdale and Orkney, which remain at Alert.
Away from the east coast, conditions are improving. The Clyde, Tay and Earn catchments have recovered from Alert to Early Warning, due to improvements in soil moisture and river flows. Recovery in ground conditions has also led to a large area of the south-west recovering from Early Warning to Normal Conditions.
The rest of the country remains at Early Warning or Normal conditions.
August saw below average rainfall for the east of Scotland, with areas in the south-east and north-east receiving less than a third of normal rainfall for the month. This continues a pattern of below average rainfall that, in some areas, extends back over a year. This long-term rainfall deficit is reflected in groundwater levels at SEPA boreholes. Several locations in Fife, Angus and the Ythan catchment in Aberdeenshire have recorded their lowest levels for August on record. Notably, Newton of Falkland in Fife and Murton Nature Reserve in Angus have recorded their lowest ever levels, based on 28-year and 17-year records respectively. Normal annual lows are expected in September/October and without significant rainfall, groundwater levels will continue to fall. River flows have also been impacted by this rainfall deficit. For example, the last time the lower Spey experienced as many low flow days was in 1972.
What do the map colours mean?
| Normal conditions | Early warning | Alert | Moderate scarcity | Significant scarcity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | Green | Yellow | Orange | Red |
Water scarcity area descriptions
Weather Forecast
Mostly dry on Friday, a few light showers across western Scotland. Dry on Saturday. Rain will spread north for a time on Sunday. Showers or longer spells of rain likely to develop across southern Scotland on Monday.
Advice for water users
Farmers and businesses in parts of eastern Scotland are facing water scarcity restrictions following prolonged dry weather that has caused areas to reach Significant Water Scarcity. Further information in Significant water scarcity guidance. Advice for abstractors and irrigators.
Supporting information
This section goes into more detail on the data behind the water scarcity levels.
Rainfall and river flows
These maps show rainfall and river flows relative to the long-term average, for this time of year, over 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months.
Rainfall over the past month has been normal across most of the country, but with the south-east widely dry and the north-east widely extremely dry. River flows are generally very low in the east and the central belt, while western areas range from low to high.
Over the last three months, the north and west have mainly experienced normal to very wet conditions. The north-east generally remains widely very dry, with the south-east showing normal to very dry conditions. River flows show an east–west split and are generally very low in the east and extremely low in the north-east, while much of the west of the country shows normal to very high flows. Some rivers are quite low in the central belt.
Over the last six months, much of the country has experienced dry to extremely dry rainfall conditions apart from the north-west, which shows dry to normal conditions. Across most of the country, river flows are extremely low, except in the Outer Hebrides, Shetland and areas of the west, where flows are quite low to normal.
What do the map colours mean?
| Rainfall | Extremely dry | Very dry | Dry | Quite dry | Normal conditions | Wet | Very wet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| River flow | Extremely low | Very low | Low | Quite low | Normal conditions | High | Very high |
| Red | Orange | Light orange | Yellow | Green | Light blue | Dark blue |
Soil moisture deficit
This map shows this week’s soil moisture deficit. This is obtained from the Met Office Rainfall and Evaporation Calculation System (MORECS). Parts of the north-east show extremely dry ground conditions. Ground conditions across the rest of the east and north are mostly dry to very dry. Elsewhere, there is generally no soil moisture deficit.
What do the map colours mean?
| Extremely dry | Very dry | Dry | Quite dry | No deficit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | Orange | Light orange | Yellow | Green |
Natural water storage – groundwater and loch levels
In each river catchment there is some degree of natural water storage, which can maintain river flows even when it is not raining. This natural water storage is mainly held in lochs and groundwater. When storage has been depleted it will take a lot of rainfall for levels to recover.
The maps below show recent groundwater and loch level compared to the long-term record at each individual station. Level is reported as high or low compared to the typical (‘normal’) level range for the time of year.
Level ranges are specific to each station and based on the long-term (minimum 10 years) record of mean monthly level values recorded at individual stations.
Despite the recent rainfall, due to the lack of recharge over the autumn and winter, groundwater levels across most of the country remain low to very low for the time of year.
A number of locations in Fife and Angus, and the Ythan catchment in Aberdeenshire, have recorded their lowest levels for August on record. In addition, Newton of Falkland in Fife and Murton Nature Reserve in Angus have recorded their lowest ever levels in their 28-year and 17-year records respectively.
Without significant rainfall, groundwater levels are expected to continue to fall over the autumn.
August average loch levels are low in the north-east of Scotland with levels elsewhere between normal and high.
What do the map colours mean?
| Very high | High | Normal range | Low | Very low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dark blue | Light blue | Light green | Light orange | Dark orange |
Flow, rainfall and groundwater data are accessed via SEPA's time series data service (API). SEPA's live data are subject to ongoing quality control and periodic review.
Scottish Water are responsible for public water supply and distribution in Scotland. Scottish Water reports on the raw water stored in these supplies.
Report copyright
- Current water scarcity levels - © SEPA. Some features of this information are based on digital spatial data licensed from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology © NERC (CEH). Contains OS data © Crown copyright (and database right).
- Areas of significant water scarcity - OS Data - © Crown Copyright - SEPA licence number 100016991 (2022)
- Rainfall, river flow, groundwater and loch levels - Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Soil moisture deficit - Data based on MORECS (Met Office © Crown Copyright). Some features of this information are based on digital spatial data licensed from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology © NERC (CEH). Contains OS data © Crown copyright (and database right). Base map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
- Weather forecast - Crown copyright [2022], Met Office