Midlands water situation report: December 2024 summary
Updated 14 January 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/water-situation-local-area-reports/midlands-water-situation-report-december-2024-summary
1. Summary
Please see Section 7.3 of the full report for a map detailing the Midlands regional coverage of this report.
Rainfall - During December, half of the hydrological catchments in the Midlands received normal rainfall totals, ranging from 84% to 123% of the long term average (LTA). The other half received above normal rainfall totals compared to the LTA, ranging from 130% to 135%.
Soil moisture deficit (SMD) - By the end of December, all hydrological catchments in the Midlands recorded a SMD of less than or equal to 10mm. This means that soils are at field capacity. Compared to the LTA, the majority of hydrological catchments in December are slightly wetter than expected for the time of year.
River flows - In December, 11 flow monitoring sites in the Midlands recorded above normal monthly mean flows. Five flow monitoring sites recorded notably high monthly mean flows and a further 4 flow monitoring sites recorded normal monthly mean flows. Wedderburn Bridge has been excluded from this report due to possible issues with the flow data available.
Groundwater levels - As of the end of December four monitoring sites recorded exceptionally high groundwater levels, 2 sites recorded above normal levels, and then one groundwater site recorded notably high levels and one site recorded normal levels compared to the LTA.
Reservoir stocks - As of the end of December, the majority of the Midlands’ reservoirs recorded above average storage for the time of year. Since November, storage levels for the majority of reservoirs have increased.
2. Rainfall
During December, the hydrological catchments in the southern half of the Midlands received normal rainfall totals, ranging from 84% to 123% of the LTA. The northern half received above normal rainfall totals compared to the LTA, ranging from 130% to 135%.
During the last 3 months, the majority of hydrological catchments in the Midlands have received normal rainfall totals ranging from 106% to 122% of the LTA. Only 3 hydrological catchments received above normal rainfall totals. These were Shropshire Plains, Lower Wye and Lower Severn, which received rainfall totals between 129% and 131% of the LTA.
Over the last 6 months, hydrological catchments in the Midlands received a variable amount of rainfall relative to the LTA. Five hydrological catchments received notably high rainfall totals ranging from 137% to 146% of the LTA. These were the Shropshire Plains, Soar, Avon, Lower Wye and Lower Severn. Four hydrological catchments received above normal rainfall totals compared to the LTA. These were the Lower Trent, Tame, Upper Trent and Middle Severn hydrological catchments, and ranged from 123% to 129% of the LTA. The remaining 3 hydrological catchments received normal rainfall totals ranging from 112% to 116% of the LTA.
Over the last 12 months, half of the hydrological catchments in the Midlands received notably high rainfall totals, ranging from 117% to 134% of the LTA. The other half received exceptionally high rainfall totals compared to the LTA, ranging between 125% and 144%.
3. Soil moisture deficit and recharge
By the end of December, all hydrological catchments in the Midlands recorded a SMD of less
than or equal to 10mm. This means that soils are at field capacity. This was also the situation at the end of November, meaning there has been no change in SMD over this time.
Compared to the LTA, the majority of hydrological catchments in December are slightly wetter than expected for the time of year, with a SMD of between 6mm and 25mm less than the LTA. Four hydrological catchments have a SMD that is within 5mm more or less than the LTA. These are the Derwent, Dove, Welsh Mountains and Shropshire Plains catchments.
4. River flows
In December, 11 flow monitoring sites in the Midlands recorded above normal monthly mean flows ranging between 124% and 163% of the LTA. These were Auckley, Worksop, North Muskham, Kegworth, Marston on Dove, Clifton Hall, Llanyblodwel, Bewdley, Tenbury, Evesham and Deerhurst. Five flow monitoring sites recorded notably high monthly mean flows ranging from 161% to 175% of the LTA. These were Ebley Mill, Stareton, Great Bridgeford, Yoxall and Walcot. A further 4 flow monitoring sites recorded normal monthly mean flows ranging from 97% to 124% of the LTA. These were Whatstandwell, Derby St. Marys, Butts Bridge, and Redbrook. Due to possible issues with recorded flows at Wedderburn Bridge, this site has been removed from the report for the foreseeable future, whilst the issues are investigated.
5. Groundwater levels
As of the end of December, groundwater levels recorded at monitoring sites were normal or above compared to the LTA. Four monitoring sites, Coxmoor, Weir Farm, Four Crosses and Anthony’s Cross, recorded exceptionally high groundwater levels compared to the LTA. Crossley Hill in the north of the Midlands recorded notably high groundwater levels for December. Ram Hall in south-east of the Midlands and Southards Lane in the north of the Midlands recorded above normal groundwater levels, and Rider Point in the north of the Midlands recorded normal groundwater levels compared to the LTA.
5.1 Reservoir stocks
As of the end of December, nearly all of the Midlands’ reservoirs recorded above average storage for the time of year. The exception is Clywedog reservoir, which recorded average storage for the time of year. Since November, storage levels for the majority of reservoirs have increased. Clywedog reservoir recorded a decrease in storage levels and Tittesworth, Blithfield and the Dove reservoir storage levels remained approximately the same since November.
6. River Severn operations
The River Severn is regulated to maintain a minimum flow at Bewdley gauging station. This ensures sufficient water flows along the river to support environmental and water supply requirements. Regulation is instigated when flows drop below a threshold. The 2024 regulation season only saw 7 days of river regulation, which commenced on 28 June 2024. The last day of regulation was 9 September 2024. The 2025 regulation season has not yet started.
7. River Wye operations
For all of December, storage in the Elan Valley reservoirs was above the release control line and the flows at Redbrook gauging station were above the regulation threshold. Therefore, regulation releases were not in operation.
As of the 9 December 2024, Caban Coch reservoir was full and spilling so no additional environmental releases have been made since this date.
As of 8 January 2025, storage in the Elan Valley reservoirs remains full and above the release control line. Flows at Redbrook gauging station also remain above the regulation threshold. Therefore, regulation releases are still not in operation.
8. Water abstraction restrictions
As of 7 January 2025 there are 0 water abstraction licence restrictions in place across the Midlands affecting 0 licences in total.
Author: Midlands Hydrology, midlandshydrology@environment-agency.gov.uk
Contact details: 03708 506 506
Disclaimer: All data are provisional and may be subject to revision. The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the Environment Agency. Its officers, servants or agents accept no liability for any loss or damage arising from the interpretation or use of the information, or reliance upon views contained in this report.