The time has come to start speculating about the chances of another hosepipe ban in Devon and/or Cornwall in the summer of 2026.
On their web site South West Water helpfully provide graphs comparing water levels in their biggest reservoirs with last year and 2022, when the hosepipe bans lasted for many months. The most recent ones currently available are dated January 18th:
As you can see, water levels are significantly below those in the drought year of 2022 at the moment. However, perhaps help is at hand from the weather gods? Here is the current set of Met Office weather warnings for West Devon:
Here’s some information from the Environment Agency’s rainfall and river flow summary for the week ending January 20th. First of all here are the rainfall maps for England as a whole:
Then there’s the table of regional data, with the South West highlighted in red:
Rainfall for December was 36% above the long term average, and rainfall in January so far is also somewhat above average. Next week’s numbers will be very interesting!
[Update – January 30th]The recent rains have certainly helped!
Total water storage across the South West has now reached the level of the same date in 2022. There is still a way to go to reach last year’s level, and even further to go achieve the ideal of 100% full by the middle of March! In particular, Colliford Reservoir in Cornwall is only just over 3/4 full.
However, more help is at hand due to heavy rain caused by the recent passage of Storm Chandra across the UK:
This weekend’s numbers should show significant further improvement.
[Update – January 31st]Here’s the data from the EA’s rainfall and river flow summary for the week ending January 27th:
The West Country has received over half the long term average rainfall for January in a single week! The weather gods are smiling on us once again, as far as reservoir levels are concerned at least. The Met Office has issued a weather warning for heavy rain for Monday afternoon and overnight into Tuesday morning:
The Met Office has published a press release summarising the UK’s weather in January 2026, including this rainfall anomaly map:
[Update – February 6th]Rain fell frequently throughout January as a series of Atlantic low-pressure systems brought repeated rounds of wet and windy weather. This came off the back of above-average rainfall in both November and December, meaning the ground was already sensitive to rainfall.
Storms Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra each contributed to a month dominated by saturated ground, flooding and unsettled conditions. Some communities continue recovery operations as February begins, with warnings for rainfall and snow in the current forecast and another unsettled week ahead.
Met Office science manager Dr Amy Doherty said: “January has been exceptionally wet because we’ve seen a very persistent Atlantic weather pattern. A strong jet stream has repeatedly steered low-pressure systems towards the UK, bringing frequent spells of rain and wind. With little opportunity for drier conditions in between, the ground has become saturated, so even moderate rainfall has had a greater impact. This succession of Atlantic systems is the main reason rainfall totals this month are well above average for many areas.”
Here’s the EA’s rainfall data for the week ending February 3rd:
Rainfall for January 2026 was 84% above the long term average! This has of course been good for reservoir water levels. By February 1st most of the reservoirs in Devon and Cornwall were full to overflowing. The exceptions are Colliford Lake on Bodmin Moor which was at 79.8% of total net capacity, and Roadford Lake just down the road from here which was at 96.8%.
[Update – February 9th]Somewhat belatedly South West Water has released reservoir water level graphs for February 1st:
Most reservoirs are now full to overflowing. The exceptions are Colliford Lake on Bodmin Moor which was at 80% of total net capacity on Feb 1st, and Roadford Lake just down the road from us which was at 97%.
[Update – February 13th]The week ending February 10th was once again exceedingly wet in the West Country:
South West Water have been quicker to release reservoir water level details this week! Here are the graphs for February 8th:
Roadford Lake is full within a fraction of a percent, but Colliford Lake has only reached 82.6% of its total net capacity.
[Update – February 20th]It’s been another wet week in South West England, but not as wet as last week. With the exception of Cornwall, and West Devon!
Colliford Lake has finally reached last year’s level on the same date, at 85.8% of its total net capacity. Total storage across Devon and Cornwall is now slightly higher than last year, at 95.7%.
To be continued…
