Name: Water indicators for United Kingdom
Creator: Hydrionis

Headline indicators

Total renewable freshwater resources

145.00 km³/yr

2022

Where this number comes from

DerivedMedium confidence2022

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators, World Bank WDI indicator ER.H2O.INTR.K3. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Renewable internal freshwater resources: the long-term average annual flow of rivers and recharge of groundwater generated from precipitation within the country. Internal resources exclude inflow from upstream countries, so this is the measure of self-sufficiency rather than of total availability. Originating body: FAO AQUASTAT. The World Bank publishes its datasets under CC BY 4.0, but relayed third-party material may carry the originator's own terms — verify with them before commercial reuse.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Renewable freshwater per person

2,144 m³/person/yr

2022

Where this number comes from

CalculatedMedium confidence2022

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators, World Bank WDI indicator ER.H2O.INTR.PC. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Renewable internal freshwater resources divided by population. Because the population denominator updates annually while the resource figure is a long-term hydrological average, movement in this series is largely population change rather than hydrological change. Originating body: FAO AQUASTAT and World Bank population estimates. The World Bank publishes its datasets under CC BY 4.0, but relayed third-party material may carry the originator's own terms — verify with them before commercial reuse.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Total freshwater withdrawal

8.42 km³/yr

2022

Where this number comes from

ReportedMedium confidence2022

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators, World Bank WDI indicator ER.H2O.FWTL.K3. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Total annual freshwater withdrawn for agricultural, industrial and domestic use. Withdrawal is not consumption: much of what is withdrawn is returned to the source catchment. Originating body: FAO AQUASTAT. The World Bank publishes its datasets under CC BY 4.0, but relayed third-party material may carry the originator's own terms — verify with them before commercial reuse.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Agricultural share of withdrawal

14.0%

2022

Where this number comes from

ReportedMedium confidence2022

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators, World Bank WDI indicator ER.H2O.FWAG.ZS. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Agricultural withdrawal as a percentage of total freshwater withdrawal. Originating body: FAO AQUASTAT. The World Bank publishes its datasets under CC BY 4.0, but relayed third-party material may carry the originator's own terms — verify with them before commercial reuse.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Industrial share of withdrawal

12.0%

2022

Where this number comes from

ReportedMedium confidence2022

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators, World Bank WDI indicator ER.H2O.FWIN.ZS. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Industrial withdrawal as a percentage of total freshwater withdrawal. Countries differ in whether thermoelectric cooling is counted here, and where it is the share reflects cooling arrangements rather than manufacturing intensity. Originating body: FAO AQUASTAT. The World Bank publishes its datasets under CC BY 4.0, but relayed third-party material may carry the originator's own terms — verify with them before commercial reuse.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Municipal share of withdrawal

74.0%

2022

Where this number comes from

ReportedMedium confidence2022

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators, World Bank WDI indicator ER.H2O.FWDM.ZS. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Domestic and municipal withdrawal as a percentage of total freshwater withdrawal. Originating body: FAO AQUASTAT. The World Bank publishes its datasets under CC BY 4.0, but relayed third-party material may carry the originator's own terms — verify with them before commercial reuse.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Annual precipitation

1,061 mm

2025

Where this number comes from

Spatially aggregatedHigh confidence2025

Source: Met Office — HadUK-Grid gridded climate observations, HadUK-Grid areal series, Rainfall, UK, annual. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Met Office published area-average total precipitation, from the HadUK-Grid 1 km gridded analysis of the national rain gauge network. Gauge density is far lower in the nineteenth century than today, and mountain precipitation is systematically under-measured, so early values carry greater uncertainty than recent ones.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Safely managed drinking water

99.8%

2024

Where this number comes from

ModelledMedium confidence2024

This is not a direct measurement. Output of a numerical or statistical model rather than a measurement.

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators, World Bank WDI indicator SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Population using an improved drinking water source that is accessible on premises, available when needed, and free from priority contamination — all three simultaneously. Modelled from household surveys and censuses, not counted. Originating body: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme. The World Bank publishes its datasets under CC BY 4.0, but relayed third-party material may carry the originator's own terms — verify with them before commercial reuse.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

Safely managed sanitation

97.8%

2024

Where this number comes from

ModelledMedium confidence2024

This is not a direct measurement. Output of a numerical or statistical model rather than a measurement.

Source: World Bank — World Development Indicators, World Bank WDI indicator SH.STA.SMSS.ZS. Licence: Open — attribution required (attribution required).

Method: Population using improved sanitation facilities not shared with other households, where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or treated off site. Originating body: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme. The World Bank publishes its datasets under CC BY 4.0, but relayed third-party material may carry the originator's own terms — verify with them before commercial reuse.

Retrieved 1 October 2026.

How water is used

Freshwater withdrawal by sector — United Kingdom

Share of total freshwater withdrawal. Withdrawal is not consumption: much of what industry and energy withdraw is returned.

Sector shares are reported for varying reference years by country, and countries differ in whether thermoelectric cooling is counted as industrial withdrawal.

View the data behind this chart

Subject	Value (%)	Notes
Agriculture	14.0	—
Industry	12.0	—
Municipal	74.0	—

Rainfall

Annual rainfall — United Kingdom

Show relevant events (1 event)Shading marks when something was recorded, not what caused the line.

What the shaded periods are (1 event)

A shaded period marks when something was recorded, not what caused the shape of the line. Where the two coincide, they coincided.

Documented record — A documented event, compiled from cited sources after it happened. The dates are as good as the record, which for older events can mean the month rather than the day.

Event	Type	Period	Standing	Authority
European drought	Drought declaration	2022-05-01 – 2022-10-31	Documented record	Compiled record

Not shown on this chart

The 1976 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
The 2022 drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
Yorkshire drought — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
Cantareira water crisis, São Paulo — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
Cape Town Day Zero — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
Hurricane Katrina water and sanitation collapse — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.

View the data behind this chart

Underlying data
Period	United Kingdom (mm)
1836	1,125
1837	909
1838	939
1839	1,066
1840	891
1841	1,124
1842	924
1843	1,008
1844	831
1845	1,027
1846	1,063
1847	963
1848	1,180
1849	987
1850	950
1851	907
1852	1,257
1853	942
1854	903
1855	787
1856	932
1857	915
1858	877
1859	1,043
1860	1,104
1861	1,055
1862	1,101
1863	1,089
1864	911
1865	977
1866	1,174
1867	1,024
1868	1,144
1869	1,066
1870	855
1871	980
1872	1,438
1873	996
1874	1,045
1875	1,092
1876	1,148
1877	1,325
1878	1,038
1879	1,018
1880	1,035
1881	1,046
1882	1,248
1883	1,125
1884	1,020
1885	1,015
1886	1,097
1887	807
1888	994
1889	932
1890	1,011
1891	1,108
1892	978
1893	940
1894	1,101
1895	960
1896	987
1897	1,037
1898	1,022
1899	1,018
1900	1,149
1901	926
1902	882
1903	1,344
1904	964
1905	933
1906	1,068
1907	1,043
1908	979
1909	1,037
1910	1,128
1911	1,011
1912	1,218
1913	1,012
1914	1,101
1915	1,050
1916	1,180
1917	1,022
1918	1,113
1919	1,015
1920	1,128
1921	892
1922	1,033
1923	1,204
1924	1,163
1925	1,057
1926	1,083
1927	1,198
1928	1,239
1929	1,048
1930	1,167
1931	1,106
1932	1,087
1933	831
1934	1,062
1935	1,134
1936	1,054
1937	1,001
1938	1,177
1939	1,084
1940	1,030
1941	937
1942	1,020
1943	1,067
1944	1,077
1945	998
1946	1,147
1947	974
1948	1,193
1949	1,031
1950	1,188
1951	1,185
1952	1,001
1953	940
1954	1,298
1955	882
1956	1,026
1957	1,089
1958	1,115
1959	987
1960	1,205
1961	1,082
1962	1,031
1963	1,001
1964	919
1965	1,139
1966	1,188
1967	1,204
1968	1,072
1969	1,002
1970	1,120
1971	936
1972	987
1973	929
1974	1,181
1975	922
1976	974
1977	1,104
1978	1,062
1979	1,172
1980	1,156
1981	1,182
1982	1,200
1983	1,085
1984	1,090
1985	1,102
1986	1,213
1987	1,061
1988	1,161
1989	1,045
1990	1,204
1991	1,025
1992	1,217
1993	1,149
1994	1,217
1995	1,050
1996	935
1997	1,049
1998	1,299
1999	1,272
2000	1,373
2001	1,050
2002	1,281
2003	901
2004	1,207
2005	1,080
2006	1,172
2007	1,193
2008	1,293
2009	1,208
2010	946
2011	1,163
2012	1,330
2013	1,084
2014	1,292
2015	1,264
2016	1,096
2017	1,118
2018	1,053
2019	1,232
2020	1,334
2021	1,106
2022	1,091
2023	1,322
2024	1,269
2025	1,061

Groundwater

Hydrionis holds monthly water-table records for 454 observation boreholes in United Kingdom. One is drawn below — the longest — because a groundwater level is a height above a datum and boreholes do not share one.

454

Observation boreholes held

1836–2026

Longest record, at Chilgrove House

2,192

Monthly readings in that record

Water table at Chilgrove House

Monthly mean level, 1836–2026. Metres above the datum this borehole is measured against.

Show relevant events (4 events)Shading marks when something was recorded, not what caused the line.

One borehole, and comparable only with its own history. Levels at different boreholes are measured against different datums, so the numbers on this axis mean nothing at any other site — which is also why Hydrionis will not average boreholes into a regional water table. Abstraction moves a level as well as rainfall, and is in neither this line nor any shading behind it.

What the shaded periods are (4 events)

A shaded period marks when something was recorded, not what caused the shape of the line. Where the two coincide, they coincided.

Documented record — A documented event, compiled from cited sources after it happened. The dates are as good as the record, which for older events can mean the month rather than the day.

Event	Type	Period	Standing	Authority
The 1976 drought	Drought declaration	1975-05-01 – 1976-08-31	Documented record	Compiled record
Yorkshire drought	Drought declaration	1995-04-01 – 1996-03-31	Documented record	Compiled record
The 2022 drought	Drought declaration	2022-03-01 – 2022-10-31	Documented record	Compiled record
European drought	Drought declaration	2022-05-01 – 2022-10-31	Documented record	Compiled record

Not shown on this chart

Cantareira water crisis, São Paulo — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.
Cape Town Day Zero — This event’s area does not contain this chart’s subject. Sharing a country is not sharing an event, so it is not drawn.

View the data behind this chart

240 of 2,192 periods, evenly spaced across the record. Every value is in the download and the API; a table of all 2,192 would be longer than this page and unusable with a screen reader.
Period	Chilgrove House (m)
1836	47.2
1836.75	40.5
1837.5	41.2
1838.3333333333333	42.7
1839.0833333333333	59.7
1839.8333333333333	60.4
1840.5833333333333	37.8
1841.3333333333333	48.5
1842.0833333333333	62.5
1842.9166666666667	58.8
1843.6666666666667	42.1
1844.4166666666667	44.2
1845.1666666666667	45.4
1845.9166666666667	41.5
1846.6666666666667	39.6
1847.5	41.5
1848.25	67.1
1849	63.4
1849.75	39.6
1850.5	46.6
1851.25	53.3
1852.0833333333333	41.5
1852.8333333333333	76.5
1853.5833333333333	45.1
1854.3333333333333	42.1
1855.0833333333333	35.4
1855.8333333333333	46.3
1856.6666666666667	40.8
1857.4166666666667	42.7
1858.1666666666667	45.1
1858.9166666666667	35.7
1859.6666666666667	38.1
1860.4166666666667	58.2
1861.25	53.0
1862	50.9
1862.75	42.1
1863.5	41.2
1864.25	52.7
1865	43.0
1865.8333333333333	65.2
1866.5833333333333	40.2
1867.3333333333333	50.3
1868.0833333333333	50.3
1868.8333333333333	37.8
1869.5833333333333	41.5
1870.4166666666667	41.2
1871.1666666666667	48.8
1871.9166666666667	43.0
1872.6666666666667	40.2
1873.4166666666667	42.1
1874.1666666666667	48.5
1875	61.6
1875.75	40.2
1876.5	44.8
1877.25	56.7
1878	58.2
1878.75	40.5
1879.5833333333333	67.1
1880.3333333333333	44.8
1881.0833333333333	65.5
1881.8333333333333	59.4
1882.5833333333333	43.0
1883.3333333333333	47.2
1884.1666666666667	64.0
1884.9166666666667	36.6
1885.6666666666667	45.7
1886.4166666666667	47.9
1887.1666666666667	52.4
1887.9166666666667	47.6
1888.75	43.9
1889.5	44.5
1890.25	46.6
1891	39.0
1891.75	67.4
1892.5	40.2
1893.3333333333333	44.8
1894.0833333333333	65.5
1894.8333333333333	70.7
1895.5833333333333	40.8
1896.3333333333333	47.2
1897.0833333333333	65.2
1897.9166666666667	37.8
1898.6666666666667	37.2
1899.4166666666667	43.6
1900.1666666666667	60.7
1900.9166666666667	39.9
1901.6666666666667	39.3
1902.5	42.4
1903.25	53.0
1904	67.1
1904.75	39.3
1905.5	42.4
1906.25	52.7
1907.0833333333333	46.6
1907.8333333333333	43.3
1908.5833333333333	42.1
1909.3333333333333	48.2
1910.0833333333333	68.9
1910.8333333333333	41.8
1911.6666666666667	39.3
1912.4166666666667	45.4
1913.1666666666667	58.2
1913.9166666666667	46.3
1914.6666666666667	39.6
1915.4166666666667	46.6
1916.25	57.9
1917	59.7
1917.75	48.2
1918.5	43.3
1919.25	60.4
1920	55.5
1920.8333333333333	41.8
1921.5833333333333	39.0
1922.3333333333333	49.7
1923.0833333333333	66.8
1923.8333333333333	44.5
1924.5833333333333	45.4
1925.4166666666667	52.4
1926.1666666666667	58.2
1926.9166666666667	46.9
1927.6666666666667	57.6
1928.4166666666667	47.9
1929.1666666666667	50.6
1930	71.9
1930.75	38.7
1931.5	44.5
1932.25	44.8
1933	54.9
1933.75	38.4
1934.5833333333333	36.0
1935.3333333333333	51.8
1936.0833333333333	67.7
1936.8333333333333	45.7
1937.5833333333333	42.4
1938.3333333333333	42.7
1939.1666666666667	55.5
1939.9166666666667	64.6
1940.6666666666667	39.0
1941.4166666666667	47.9
1942.1666666666667	50.9
1942.9166666666667	43.9
1943.75	37.2
1944.5	38.7
1945.25	47.6
1946	56.4
1946.75	50.9
1947.5	44.5
1948.3333333333333	43.0
1949.0833333333333	66.5
1949.8333333333333	43.3
1950.5833333333333	40.5
1951.3333333333333	55.2
1952.0833333333333	56.4
1952.9166666666667	51.5
1953.6666666666667	39.3
1954.4166666666667	46.3
1955.1666666666667	53.7
1955.9166666666667	44.8
1956.6666666666667	38.9
1957.5	42.8
1958.25	52.5
1959	69.0
1959.75	38.6
1960.5	43.9
1961.25	55.6
1962.0833333333333	59.1
1962.8333333333333	40.4
1963.5833333333333	44.5
1964.3333333333333	57.3
1965.0833333333333	47.6
1965.8333333333333	43.9
1966.6666666666667	43.3
1967.4166666666667	46.7
1968.1666666666667	52.9
1968.9166666666667	56.8
1969.6666666666667	39.5
1970.4166666666667	46.8
1971.25	55.9
1972	36.6
1972.75	37.9
1973.5	40.1
1974.25	50.7
1975	62.1
1975.8333333333333	37.5
1976.5833333333333	34.3
1977.3333333333333	54.9
1978.0833333333333	61.8
1978.8333333333333	36.9
1979.5833333333333	44.2
1980.4166666666667	47.4
1981.1666666666667	61.9
1981.9166666666667	50.9
1982.6666666666667	38.4
1983.4166666666667	53.2
1984.1666666666667	57.2
1985	62.1
1985.75	44.6
1986.5	46.1
1987.25	67.9
1988	62.2
1988.75	39.0
1989.5833333333333	38.9
1990.3333333333333	46.8
1991.0833333333333	43.5
1991.8333333333333	39.7
1992.5833333333333	38.5
1993.3333333333333	48.8
1994.1666666666667	61.7
1994.9166666666667	53.2
1995.6666666666667	37.0
1996.4166666666667	42.6
1997.1666666666667	53.0
1998.0833333333333	63.6
1998.9166666666667	56.8
1999.6666666666667	38.4
2000.5	48.2
2001.5833333333333	40.6
2002.3333333333333	50.5
2003.0833333333333	64.4
2003.9166666666667	42.0
2004.6666666666667	38.3
2005.4166666666667	39.6
2006.3333333333333	48.3
2007.25	53.2
2008.3333333333333	51.5
2009.25	54.0
2010	61.7
2010.75	37.4
2011.5	39.7
2012.3333333333333	62.7
2013.0833333333333	72.2
2013.9166666666667	57.3
2014.6666666666667	39.6
2015.4166666666667	42.5
2016.1666666666667	64.0
2016.9166666666667	37.0
2017.6666666666667	38.4
2020.4166666666667	46.0
2023.0833333333333	61.7
2026.3333333333333	47.3

Source: Environment Agency — Hydrology Data Explorer API (Open Government Licence v3.0).

Bills

Average annual household water and sewerage bill

Nominal pounds, as billed. Not adjusted for inflation.

View the data behind this chart

Underlying data
Period	Average household bill (GBP/yr)
2020	396
2021	408
2022	419
2023	448
2024	473
2025	603

In regional context

Renewable freshwater per person, regional comparison

Neighbouring countries in the same region, ranked.

A national per-capita average conceals seasonal and regional distribution entirely.

View the data behind this chart

Subject	Value (m³/person/yr)	Notes
Iceland	445,023	—
Norway	70,000	—
Finland	19,258	—
Sweden	16,306	—
Estonia	9,423	—
Ireland	9,400	—
Latvia	9,014	—
Lithuania	5,460	—
United Kingdom	2,144	—
Denmark	1,016	—

Measured here

Hydrionis holds records from 6 monitoring locations in United Kingdom, read directly from the national network rather than reported at country level.

Monitoring locations

873,477

Values held from them

1814–2026

Record spans

What the United Kingdom monitoring network measures
Measurement	Locations	Values
Daily precipitation	6	322,794
Daily minimum air temperature	5	275,777
Daily maximum air temperature	5	274,906

See the United Kingdom monitoring network — where the stations are, and what each one measures.

Use this data

Machine-readable JSON /api/v1/observations/by-subject/country-gbr.json
How to cite this, and who you must credit
How these figures were produced
Compare with somewhere else
Request this at a different scale, format or geography

No bulk download is offered here, which is a licence position rather than a product one: at least one contributing publisher does not permit redistribution. The values can be read on the page, cited, and pointed to at source.

Attribution and citation

Attribution you are required to give

These are conditions of the licences the underlying data is published under. They are obligations to the publishers, not to Hydrionis, and they apply to you directly whether or not you mention Hydrionis at all.

Data from Eurostat, used under European Commission reuse policy (Decision 2011/833/EU). Data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, used under CC BY 4.0, as complemented by the FAO Statistical Database Terms of Use. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from World Bank, used under CC BY 4.0.

Eurostat — European Commission reuse policy (Decision 2011/833/EU) (licence text)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations — CC BY 4.0, as complemented by the FAO Statistical Database Terms of Use (licence text)
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — Open Government Licence v3.0 (licence text)
Met Office — Open Government Licence v3.0 (licence text)
World Bank — CC BY 4.0 (licence text)

Suggested citation for Hydrionis

Hydrionis (2026), Water data for United Kingdom, accessed 2026-10-05, hydrionis.com/countries/united-kingdom/

Cite Hydrionis where you rely on the compilation, the normalisation, the eligibility judgements or a chart. Where you use an unmodified published value, the publisher’s attribution is the one that is required; crediting Hydrionis as well is welcome and is not something Hydrionis can require of you.

Recommended, not required. Hydrionis does not claim rights over unmodified public data it relayed, and doing arithmetic on somebody else’s measurements does not make them Hydrionis’s. Cite the version and the access date: the United Kingdom record changes as publishers release and as methods are revised, and a citation without both cannot be checked later. Full guidance is on cite and reuse.

Hydrionis works to make data accurate, traceable and internally consistent through source validation, automated checks and documented methodology. Errors can still occur in original source data or in Hydrionis processing. For critical decisions, review the cited original source, the methodology and the known limitations. See accuracy and corrections.

Coverage for this place

Entities in United Kingdom

River Thames

The principal river of southern England and the source of much of London’s water supply. Its recovery from being declared biolog…

Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations

The statutory drinking water quality standards for the UK, enforced by the DWI in England and Wales and the DWQR in Scotland. Co…

Within this place

England · nation
Scotland · nation
Wales · nation
Northern Ireland · nation
England and Wales (climate district) · global region
North West England and North Wales (climate district) · global region
South West England and South Wales (climate district) · global region