Scotland's Lower Tweed reaches significant water scarcity level
SEPA’s 15 October weekly report kept the Lower Tweed at Significant Scarcity and said some abstraction licences there face temporary restrictions. Deveron recovered to Early Warning, while other eastern catchments remained at varied alert levels.
Event / data period: 2026-10-15
Published: · Updated:
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) reported on 15 October that the Lower Tweed remained at Significant Scarcity as dry conditions persisted in eastern Scotland. SEPA said it had imposed temporary restrictions on some licences to abstract water in areas at that level. The Deveron was the one area listed as recovering to Early Warning.
The agency classified the Tyne (Lothian) and Tweed as Moderate Scarcity, and the Ythan, Don, Dee, Esk, Firth of Tay, Firth of Forth and Almond as Alert. Findhorn, Deveron, Tay and Earn were at Early Warning; the rest of the country was Normal. SEPA described low to very low river flows and dry ground in parts of the east, while western flows were normal to high or very high in the north-west. The report does not claim crop losses or quantify effects on farm output.
Data
Scotland water-scarcity classifications
Area classifications in SEPA’s weekly report dated 15 October 2026.
- · Occurred
Significant Scarcity
Lower Tweed; temporary restrictions on some abstraction licences
- · Occurred
Moderate Scarcity
Tyne (Lothian); Tweed
- · Occurred
Alert
Ythan; Don (Aberdeenshire); Dee (Aberdeen); Esk (Angus); Firth of Tay; Firth of Forth; Almond
- · Occurred
Early Warning
Findhorn; Deveron; Tay; Earn
- · Occurred
Normal Conditions
Rest of Scotland
Methodology
SEPA’s published categories and catchment names are transcribed and translated; no score or measured index is derived.
Updated:
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