Britain’s Environment Agency on Tuesday classified England’s deepening drought as a “nationally significant incident” after the driest first half of the year since 1976. Five regions are formally in drought and a further six are experiencing prolonged dry weather. Reservoir stocks slipped to 67.7 percent of capacity in early August, well below the 80.5 percent seasonal average, while temperatures are forecast to reach 34 °C under the country’s fourth heatwave of the summer. The National Drought Group warned of reduced crop yields, damaged river habitats and heightened wildfire risk, and asked households and businesses to curb consumption. Conservation advice ranges from fixing leaking toilets to an unusual plea to delete old emails and images to lessen water-intensive data-centre cooling. “The current situation is nationally significant, and we are calling on everyone to play their part,” said Helen Wakeham, the agency’s director of water. Separately, ministers have appointed FTI Consulting to draw up contingency plans for placing Thames Water into a Special Administration Regime should Britain’s largest water utility fail to secure new funding. The company, which serves about 16 million customers, is negotiating a £5 billion recapitalisation with senior bondholders as it grapples with roughly £18–20 billion of debt. A government spokesperson said Thames Water “remains financially stable” but officials “stand ready for all eventualities” to protect essential services amid the broader water-supply crisis.