UK scientists have produced a comprehensive review of the latest research into drought including its impacts on people and the environment
The Environment Agency worked with more than 40 experts from 13 different universities, consultancies and research institutes including the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) to produce the report.
Predicting and managing droughts is vital to protect the environment, lives and livelihoods, food production, property and infrastructure. However, the report says that, to date, droughts have been poorly understood because they are complex events that vary in duration, time of year, location, severity. Their infrequency means there is limited data and experience of them, which limits society’s ability to predict, prepare and respond.
The report consolidates the latest knowledge on drought and identified knowledge gaps to help inform priority research and management efforts in future.
It focuses on three themes: the physical processes that drive droughts, the impacts of droughts, and the management of droughts.
Each theme is further divided into specialist topics, each providing an expert review of a specialist area. UKCEH scientists led the reviews on:
• past river flow drought trends
• future river flow projections
• impacts of drought on water quality
• impacts of drought on vegetation
UKCEH also contributed to the review of drought impacts on soils.
Jamie Hannaford, Principal Hydrologist at UKCEH, who led the review of past trends, explains: “While the UK is thought of as a wet country, recent droughts like 2018 and 2022 have underlined our vulnerability to prolonged periods of dry weather and shown the range of impacts that can occur across ecosystems and different economic sectors. We must re-evaluate our understanding of drought, and how risks may change in future due to climate change.”
There are large uncertainties over predictions about future drought events, and how hydrological conditions may vary between regions. However, UKCEH analysis using up-to-date climate projections to model future river flows and groundwater levels up to 2080, shows the UK will see significant increases in the severity of droughts over the coming century.”
The national Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure (FDRI) programme, led by UKCEH and funded by UKRI, will produce extensive new measurements across several catchments across the country.
This will enable researchers to improve computer models to predict when and where floods and droughts will happen, and their severity. It will comprise a combination of fixed instruments and mobile equipment, such as drones to monitor river flows, which can be deployed to different areas at times of floods and droughts.
The Review of the Research and Scientific Understanding of Drought is available on the gov.uk website and the Environment Agency's Chief Scientist, Dr Robert Bradburne, provided a summary in a blog.
Some 20 UKCEH scientists contributed to the report, covering a range of disciplines including hydrological and climate modelling, hydrology, ecology, soils science and Earth observation contributed to the report.
They were: Jamie Hannaford, Lucy Barker, Steve Turner, Maliko Tanguy, Amulya Chevuturi, Rosanna Lane, Alison Kay, Mike Bowes, Alex O’Brien, Michael Hutchins, Cedric Laize, Jill Thompson, France Gerard, Douglas Kelley, Rebecca Oliver, Amy Pickard, Maud van Soest, David Robinson, Sabine Reinsch, Aidan Keith.