The government is expected to declare a drought covering many areas of England later today, multiple sources have told BBC News.
The final decision will be taken by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with the Environment Agency after a meeting of the National Drought Group.
Since the end of July, the UK has officially been in what is called ‘prolonged dry weather’ – this is the stage before a drought is declared.
The government has already said that if this dry picture continues, and it certainly has, a drought is likely to be declared.
What will determine the decision is the hydrological position across the country: how much water is around.
Defra and the Environment Agency will ask other members of the National Drought Group about rainfall, river flows, groundwater levels, reservoir levels and soil moisture.
They will then ask how it will affect the public water supply, how it will affect other people who use the water such as business and agriculture, and of course they will want to know what the impact will be on the environment.
Defra believes there could be severe impacts on some or all of them and will therefore declare parts of the UK in drought.