Water scarcity report - 12 June 2025
The River Helmsdale area has been raised to Significant Water Scarcity. The Wick, Spey, Deveron, Ythan, Don (Aberdeenshire), Dee (Aberdeen), Esk, Firth of Tay and Tyne (Lothian) river catchments remain at Moderate Water Scarcity. The Firth of Forth and Tweed have recovered to Alert. Further recovery means that many of the remaining areas are at Early Warning or Normal Conditions, with some catchments still at Alert.
Situation summary
The River Helmsdale area has increased to Significant Water Scarcity due to prolonged very low river flows in the area. When an area reaches Significant Water Scarcity we consider additional action to protect the environment. In this instance, no additional steps are required because the authorised abstractions in this area return all their abstracted water a short distance downstream of the abstraction point. Where action is required to protect the environment, restrictions would be for the minimum time necessary and would be lifted as soon as possible.
Elsewhere, further heavy rain over the past week has improved ground and river conditions in some areas. The Firth of Forth and Tweed have recovered from Moderate Scarcity to Alert, while the Earn and Esk (Dumfriesshire) have recovered from Alert to Early Warning.
The Beauly, Forth, Annan, Firth of Clyde and Loch Maree catchments have all recovered from Early Warning to Normal conditions.
However, if river flows remain very low, the Wick and Thurso catchment will be raised to Significant Scarcity within the next week. You can monitor this on SEPA’s Drought Risk Assessment Tool.
Further rain is forecast in the coming week, however well above average rainfall will be required for water scarcity levels to recover after such a prolonged dry period, especially in the parts of the country where rainfall has been limited in the previous weeks. The east of Scotland has seen its second driest spring in 100 years and there are some parts of the east coast that have had below average for the last 12 months.
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
Showers reach all by the early hours of Friday, bringing the risk of thunderstorms. Showers dwindling to some patchy rain before dawn, then scattered showers through the rest of Friday, with a few isolated heavier outbreaks during the late afternoon. Saturday has limited confidence in detail but current expectations are for showers in east, probably heavy with thunder at times, while the west stays mainly dry. Rain for Sunday and Monday limited to some patchy outbreaks focused across the northwest.
Advice for water users
We advise water users, including those with private water supplies, to be aware of the potential risk of water scarcity this summer, and for businesses to plan ahead where possible. 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.
Across much of the country, the 30-day average rainfall has been normal, with some parts of west and central Scotland showing wet conditions. There are parts of the northeast that remain quite dry. River flows over the past month show an east to west split across the country, with much of the east still experiencing very low to extremely low flows, and much of the west generally between normal to high flows.
Over the last three months, much of the east and north of the country has experienced very dry to extremely dry rainfall conditions. In the west of the country, normal to quite dry conditions are more prevalent, particularly in central Scotland. Parts of the southwest however, still show areas of quite dry to very dry conditions. River flows for this period remain extremely low overall.
Conditions over the past six months continue to be mixed. Much of northern Scotland has seen more normal rainfall, although some areas remain quite dry to very dry. River flows in the north are generally between normal and very low. Southern Scotland experienced widespread very dry to extremely dry conditions over the past six months, which is reflected in very low to extremely low river flows.
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 are very dry or quite dry across much of the east of the country. In the west, ground conditions are generally quite dry or show no 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 winter, groundwater levels across most of the country remain low to very low for the time of year.
Locations in Fife and Angus have recorded their lowest May levels on record. For example, the Newton of Falkland Borehole is at its lowest level for this time of year in its 28-year record. Without significant rainfall, levels are expected to continue to fall over the summer.
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