Following the wettest April on record, the Environment Agency has announced that 19 parts of England are no longer in drought.
Heavy and persistent rain in the South West, the Midlands and Yorkshire has boosted river and reservoir levels, reducing pressure on the environment and water supplies. River flows have gone from below normal levels at all sites in March to exceptionally high levels in almost half of the spots monitored by the Environment Agency.
Water companies in those areas are unlikely to impose hosepipe bans on customers this summer, the Environment Agency said.
Groundwater levels are still low across the country, and parts of East Anglia and the South East remain in drought with hosepipe bans in place.
England's biggest water company, Thames Water, said it could rule out applying for a Drought Order allowing it to impose more serious restrictions on water use following the weeks of heavy rain. However, the firm warned its 8.8 million customers in London and the Thames Valley that it was too early to lift the hosepipe ban imposed early in April.
Richard Aylard, Thames Water's sustainability director, said, "Despite all the recent rain, we still have a serious groundwater shortage, and we could yet have a long, hot summer, so, much as we'd love to, it would be irresponsible for us to lift the hosepipe ban just yet."
Drought status has been lifted for South Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, parts of Gloucestershire, parts of Hampshire, most of Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
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