The UK is at risk of a prolonged drought, which could last into next year, potentially exacerbating the energy crisis that means household will face soaring energy bills this winter.
Very little rain has fallen across the country since the summer heatwaves, and river flows and groundwater levels remain "exceptionally low", the Environment Agency’s National Drought Group said.
With large parts of the country already officially in drought, "a complete gear change" is needed in how households, farms and the water companies manage water, the Environment Agency said.
The National Drought Group said there had already been "significant environmental impacts, with rivers and ponds drying out and fish and other wildlife dying or in distress".
It said "there is no threat to essential water supplies" at the moment, but warned that there is now "a need to continue to manage water resources carefully over the coming weeks and months".
The UK situation mirrors that of Europe, where river flows are down by a third on average due to what may be the worst drought in 500 years.
Nearly half of the EU remains under drought warning conditions, with hotter and drier weather forecast until November due to climate change.
"The severe drought affecting many regions of Europe since the beginning of the year has been further expanding and worsening as of early August," the EU’s joint research centre (JRC) said in a study.
The drought is compounding Europe’s energy crisis.
"Europe is heading for a monumental energy crisis this winter unless it can source new gas supplies to replace Russia and there is sufficient rain to restore nuclear power to capacity," said analyst John Meyer at SP Angel.
"In the meantime, the UK and Europe needs to focus on becoming much more energy efficient and saving energy."
Due to anti-nuclear stances, UK has become increasingly dependent on coal and natural gas.
"Drought conditions have reduced hydropower and nuclear power and this combined with a lack of gas and coal fired power means we may be in for a very tough winter," added Meyer.
He went on to say that when there is limited energy supply, politicians seem to have forgotten that energy price caps can only help increase demand, while competing for very limited energy supplies, effectively funding higher prices for Russia and other energy-rich nations.
"It also does little to reduce energy use which is the real problem."