Water event
Yorkshire drought
A drought that brought Yorkshire close to running out of water, with tankering between reservoirs and standpipes prepared, despite the region not being short of rainfall in absolute terms.
Key facts
- Event type
- Drought
- Started
- 1995-04-01
- Ended
- 1996-03-31
Cause
An exceptionally dry period combined with a supply system that was poorly interconnected, so water could not be moved from areas with resource to areas without.
Impact
- Reservoir storage fell to critical levels
- Road tankering of water between reservoirs
- Preparation for standpipes and rota cuts
Response
Emergency tankering, hosepipe bans, and rapid construction of a regional grid connecting previously isolated sources.
Aftermath
Established interconnection as a core UK resilience principle. Yorkshire Water now operates one of the most integrated regional grids in England, and the episode is still cited in every UK water resources plan.
Relationships
- Located in: England
Related intelligence
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Sources
- Peer-reviewed scientific literature — Open-access hydrology, water chemistry and water use research. Public but restricted · Publisher terms — public access, reuse not clearly granted