Water scarcity report - 29 May 2025
The river catchments of the Almond, Annan, Nith, Dee (Galloway) and Cree have recovered to Alert. The Spey, Deveron, Ythan, Don (Aberdeenshire), Dee (Aberdeen), Esk, Tay, Firth of Tay, Firth of Forth, Tyne (Lothian), Tweed, and Esk (Dumfriesshire) remain at Moderate Scarcity.
Most of the rest of the country remains at Alert, except some parts of the west which have recovered to Early Warning or Normal Conditions.
Situation summary
Rain has affected all of the country in the last week. The heaviest rainfall was seen in the west but less significant rain reached the north-east and parts of the east coast.
The rain has improved ground conditions and permitted widespread recovery in the west. In the south-west, the river catchments of the Almond, Annan, Nith, Dee (Galloway) and Cree have recovered from Moderate Scarcity to Alert level. It has also caused a similar recovery in the Almond catchment further east. Further north, the Leven (Dunbartonshire), Loch Fyne, the Argyll coast, Loch Linnhe, the Lochy (Invernessshire), Loch Shiel, Loch Alsh and Loch Maree have all recovered from Alert to Early Warning. The Awe and Etive area has recovered from Alert to Normal Conditions, due to the heaviest rain falling here.
The Liddesdale area in Dumfriesshire, has avoided being raised to Significant Scarcity this week, as the rainfall in the south-west has led to recovery in river flow.
However, some areas of the north-east and parts of the Borders are now at risk of Significant Scarcity. If river flows in these areas remain very low, the River Garry part of the Tay catchment, as well as the Upper Dee (Aberdeenshire), the Upper Spey, the Upper Tweed, and Mid-Tweed and Lauderdale areas will be raised to Significant Scarcity 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 no significant rainfall has occurred within the past week.
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
A pulse of rain spreads northeast late Thursday evening into Friday morning, becoming more showery through the afternoon, before dying out in the evening. The far north remains mostly dry however. Over the weekend showers will sweep eastwards across the country with showers, heavy at times and perhaps merging to give longer spells of rain. Scattered showers will follow on Monday.
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.
Over the past month, rainfall conditions have been generally normal to dry in the west, improved substantially by rain over the past week, but have remained quite dry to extremely dry in the east. River flows have continued to be generally very low to extremely low, apart from the Inner and Outer Hebrides where flows have been between normal and low.
Over the last 3 months, much of the south, north and east of the country has been extremely dry with other areas mostly dry or very dry. This is reflected in the very low to extremely low river flows.
Conditions are more mixed over the past 6 months. Much of northern Scotland has seen more normal conditions, although some parts are quite dry to very dry. River flows in the north are generally between normal and very low. Southern Scotland, however, has experienced widespread very dry to extremely dry rainfall conditions, which is reflected in the 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 across a wide area of the east coast, between East Lothian and Aberdeenshire. Much of the rest of the country is quite dry to dry, although parts of the western mainland are at normal conditions.
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.
Based on the May average, groundwater levels, from our monitoring points across the country, remain generally low to very low for the time of year. This is due to significantly lower than average rainfall in recent months resulting in limited recharge over the winter and spring periods. Levels are particularly low across the east of the country and are in some parts of Fife and Angus are lowest on record for this time of year. Groundwater levels in the Moray area remain normal or above.
Based on the May average, loch levels, from our monitoring points, are very low for this time of year across the far north, with levels elsewhere variable between normal and very low for the time of year.
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