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Water scarcity report - 16 July 2026

This week’s key changes

• New areas recovered from Significant: The River Lossie (Findhorn)

• New areas raised to Moderate: Firth of Forth, Don (Aberdeenshire), Esk and Tweed.

• New areas raised to Early Warning: Ness, Forth, Esk (Dumfriesshire), Annan, Nith, Dee (Galloway), Cree, Clyde, Irvine and Ayr

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 - Rainfall conditions have been normal to wet across western and much of northern Scotland. In contrast, much of the east has experienced quite dry to dry conditions, with parts of Angus and Fife recording extremely dry conditions.

• River flows - River flows reflect the recent rainfall pattern, with high to very high flows across western catchments and low to very low flows across much of the east. In the Tweed catchment, July river flows at Coldstream gauging station reached the second-lowest recorded at the site since records began in 1971.

• Soil moisture - Ground conditions are generally dry across much of eastern Scotland, with the driest conditions in parts of the north-east and along the east coast. Recent dry weather has led to a rapid reduction in soil moisture in southern Scotland to quite dry, which is expected to continue over the coming week. In contrast, parts of western and northern Scotland show no soil moisture deficit.

• Groundwater - Groundwater levels in central Fife are very low for the time of year. Elsewhere in the East of Scotland groundwater levels are low or very low. In all 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

No areas at risk of significant scarcity this week. 

Weather forecast

Mainly dry and settled. A few light showers possible in the north over the weekend. © 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

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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 across western and much of northern Scotland have been normal to wet. Meanwhile there have been quite dry to dry rainfall conditions across much of the east, with extremely dry conditions in parts of Angus. This is reflected in river flows across the country, with high to very high flows in the west and low to very low flows in the east. In the Tay and parts of central Scotland, river flows have been normal.

Over the past three months, rainfall conditions have generally been quite dry to very dry across much of the country, with normal to very wet conditions more prevalent in the west and the Northern Isles. River flows in the east have generally been very low, with extremely low flows along the Moray coast. Parts of central Scotland have recorded normal flows, while in the west and Northern Isles, flows have generally been high to very high.

Over the past six months, rainfall conditions along the Moray coast and across the central belt have been largely dry to very dry. Wet to very wet conditions have occurred in parts of the northeast, the Northern Isles and the south. Normal rainfall conditions have occurred elsewhere. River flows have been very low to extremely low in the central belt and parts of the north, and very high in the northeast and parts of the southwest. Elsewhere, river flows have ranged from 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

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.  The maps are updated on the first full week of the month.

Recorded groundwater levels in central Fife are very low for the time of year. In the 30year 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 has very low levels.

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