Back to Previous reports

Water scarcity report - 04 June 2026

This week’s key changes

• New areas recovered to Normal Conditions this week: Wick, Thurso, Shin, Northwest Highlands, Naver Group, Orkney, Leven (Dunbartonshire) and Kintyre Group

Map and water scarcity levels

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 - Recent rainfall has been generally normal for the time of year across most the country with the southeast being dry. Conditions throughout Spring were dry across much of the east coast and wet in the west coast.  
• River flows - River flows are generally low to very low for the time of year across the country. Flows have been very low compared to normal in rivers across eastern Scotland for the past few months, with more mixed conditions across the rest of the country.
• Soil moisture - Ground conditions are mostly dry to very dry in the east. Elsewhere, most of the country remains quite dry, with the west and parts of the north remaining at normal conditions.
• Groundwater levels - Groundwater levels are largely normal across much of the country, although there are very low levels at some monitoring locations in Fife and Angus. 

Read in more detail our hydrological overview of the current conditions below.

Weather forecast

A showery day on Thursday with some slow-moving heavy showers possible in the east. The showers less heavy and widespread on Friday with most showers remaining in the west. Remaining changeable at the weekend, with some more persistent rain likely over the weekend, heaviest over high ground in central, southern and western parts.

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 normal to quite dry across most of the country, with parts of the southeast being dry. River flows have been mostly low to very low across Scotland, with some recovery along the west coast.

Rainfall conditions over the past three months have been dry to very dry along the east coast, normal across the central belt, and normal to very wet elsewhere. River flows have been generally low in the central belt and low to very low in the east. The rest of the country has seen normal conditions with parts of the west being high to very high.

Over the past six months, the northeast has experienced wet to very wet conditions, whereas the central belt and parts of the north have been quite dry to dry, and very dry along the Moray coast and further north. The rest of the country has experienced mostly normal conditions for rainfall. River flows have been high to very high in the northeast and along the southwest coast, and low to extremely low in the north and central belt. The rest of the country has seen quite low to normal conditions.

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

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. 

Due to limited recovery over the winter and spring groundwater levels in Fife remain low to very low for the time of year - although they are slightly higher than at the same time in 2025.

In all other areas levels remain normal or above.

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