Water scarcity report - 03 September 2026
New areas at Significant Scarcity, as low river flows persist in the south and east
This week’s key changes
New areas reaching Significant Scarcity: Upper Tweed, Mid Tweed and Lauderdale
Areas recovered from Significant Scarcity: Dee (Galloway), Urr Water
Areas reaching Moderate Scarcity: Earn; Early Warning: Shetland
Areas recovering to Alert: Deveron, Ythan, Don (Aberdeenshire); Normal Conditions: Doon, Irvine and Ayr
Map and water scarcity levels
What do the map colours mean?
Water scarcity level | Region/Area(s) |
|---|---|
Red Significant Scarcity | Upper Tweed, Mid Tweed and Lauderdale SEPA have issued temporary restrictions on some licences to abstract water from the environment in the areas that have reached Significant Scarcity. For further information see Significant water scarcity guidance. Unless there is sustained rainfall, Significant Scarcity could be reached within the next week in the following areas: North Fife, Fife (East Neuk), Lower Earn, Stonehaven, North Esk You can monitor this on the Drought Risk Assessment Tool. |
Orange Moderate Scarcity | Dee (Aberdeen), Esk (Angus), Firth of Tay, Earn, Firth of Forth, Almond, Tyne (Lothian), Tweed, Dee (Galloway) |
Yellow Alert | Findhorn, Deveron, Ythan, Don (Aberdeenshire), Esk (Dumfriesshire) |
Green Early Warning | Spey, Tay, Forth, Annan, Nith, Cree, Clyde, Shetland |
Blue Normal Conditions | The rest of the country |
Use the drought risk assessment tool to explore conditions through our interactive map. This tool shows the number of days that river flows have been very low and is used to help identify areas at greater risk of long-term ecological impacts. When river flows have been very low for 30 or more days, Significant Scarcity is reached. Data is updated daily at 0930 GMT / 1030 BST.
Conditions overview
Rainfall - The past week has seen rain across the south and in the north-east, which has promoted recovery in the Don (Aberdeenshire), Ythan and Deveron. Areas further down the east coast at Moderate Scarcity have had little rainfall. Significant further rain will be needed for widespread recovery. Further north, rainfall over the summer has been lower than average in Shetland, which is now at Early Warning.
River flows - Very low flows persist in the south and east. In the Borders, very low flows on the Gala Water have caused Upper Tweed and Mid Tweed and Lauderdale to reach Significant Scarcity. Persistent very low flows have also caused the Earn to reach Moderate Scarcity.
Soil moisture - Ground conditions have eased in the south-west, allowing recovery of the Doon and Irvine and Ayr areas.
Groundwater and loch levels - Groundwater levels in central Fife are very low for the time of year. Elsewhere in eastern Scotland, levels are low or very low. In other areas levels remain normal or above.
Read in more detail our hydrological overview of the current conditions below.
Areas at risk of Significant Scarcity
Unless there is sustained rainfall, Significant Scarcity could be reached within the next week in the following areas: North Fife, Fife (East Neuk), Lower Earn, Stonehaven, North Esk
You can monitor this on the Drought Risk Assessment Tool.
Weather forecast
Showers on Friday, most frequent in Argyll and Highland. Showers lighter and well scattered on Saturday. Showers on Sunday, perhaps a longer spell of rain in the northwest, then showers again on Monday, more frequent in west.
© Crown copyright [2026], Met Office
Advice for water users
Everyone should plan to increase their resilience to the impacts of prolonged dry conditions. By taking the right steps now, it could help reduce the impact of water scarcity in the future. For further information visit 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.
Recent rainfall conditions have been generally normal across most of the country, though dry in parts of the south. Recent river flows have been widely very low, although normal to high flows persist across much of the north-west and Orkney.
Over the past three months, rainfall conditions have generally been dry to very dry across much of eastern and southern Scotland. In contrast, the west and north have generally seen normal to wet conditions. River flows have remained very low across much of eastern Scotland, while the west and north have seen normal to very high flows.
Over the past six months, rainfall conditions have been dry to extremely dry across much of the east of Scotland and in the far south-west, while the north-west and Orkney have experienced wetter conditions. River flows have been very low to extremely low across many eastern catchments and the Central Belt, though elsewhere flows have generally ranged from normal to very high.
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).
Ground conditions remain dry to very dry across much of eastern Scotland. Elsewhere, conditions are generally normal to quite dry.
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.
Recorded groundwater levels in central Fife are very low for the time of year. In the 30 year monitoring record at the Newton of Falkland borehole, June levels have only been lower twice before (2025 and 2006). Elsewhere in the East of Scotland groundwater levels are low or very low. In all other areas, levels remain normal or above.
Loch levels show a mixed picture, with most sites normal to very high levels. However, Lochindorb, to the east of Inverness, has a very low level.
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