Water, sewage, air and climate: your questions answered
Sewage spills, bathing and river water quality, water bills, air pollution, flood risk, temperature records and recycling: the official UK sources.
What is the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK?
The UK record is 40.3°C, recorded at Coningsby, Lincolnshire, on 19 July 2022. The Met Office verified it on 28 July 2022, along with national records of 37.1°C for Wales (Hawarden) and 34.8°C for Scotland (Charterhall).
Related: What are UK greenhouse gas emissions? · How do I check flood warnings and flood risk for my area?
How do I check flood warnings and flood risk for my area?
For current flood warnings in England, use the Environment Agency's Check for flooding service, which also shows river, sea and groundwater levels. You can sign up for free warnings by text, phone or email in England, Scotland and Wales. Scotland's live warnings come from SEPA Floodline and Wales's from Natural Resources Wales.
For long-term risk to an address, use Check your long term flood risk, which rates risk from rivers and the sea, surface water and other sources.
A flood alert means flooding is possible; a flood warning means it is expected; a severe flood warning means danger to life. Long-term risk ratings are modelled chances, not a record of past flooding, and the Environment Agency updated its national risk maps in 2025.
Related: What is the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK? · Where can I download UK government data?
How do I check air quality in my area?
Use Defra's Check air quality service, which gives the forecast Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI) for your area on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (very high), with health advice. Measured readings from monitoring stations are on UK-AIR and the new Get air pollution data service.
Full answer, with the latest figure and past values →
Related: What are UK greenhouse gas emissions? · Where can I find road traffic statistics?
What does Ofwat do?
Ofwat, the Water Services Regulation Authority, is the economic regulator of water and sewerage companies in England and Wales. It is a non-ministerial government department. It sets how much companies can charge through five-yearly price reviews, sets performance targets, and can fine companies that breach their licences.
Ofwat does not handle individual bill complaints: those go first to your water company and then to the Consumer Council for Water. Pollution is policed by the Environment Agency in England and Natural Resources Wales, and drinking water by the Drinking Water Inspectorate.
In July 2025 the Government announced that Ofwat will be abolished and its role merged into a single new water regulator. Until legislation takes effect, Ofwat remains the regulator, so check the date of any claim about who is responsible.
Related: How is water company performance measured? · How much are water bills going up?
How do I check water quality in my area?
It depends on which water you mean. For tap water, your water supplier must publish test results for your postcode, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate publishes annual reports on compliance in England and Wales.
For rivers, lakes and groundwater in England, the Environment Agency's Catchment Data Explorer shows each water body's ecological and chemical status, and the Water Quality Explorer holds millions of individual sample results by sampling point. Scotland's equivalent is SEPA's water classification hub.
When a claim says a share of rivers are "in good health", check which measure it uses. Overall status fails if any one element fails, and chemical status changed when new substances were added, so rates are not comparable across all years.
Related: How do I check bathing water quality at a beach or river? · Where can I see sewage spills near me?
How much are water bills going up?
Ofwat's 2024 price review set allowed revenue for 2025 to 2030. Its final determinations said average combined bills in England and Wales would rise by £157 (36%) over the five years before inflation, with large differences between companies.
Related: What does Ofwat do? · What is the current UK inflation rate? · How is water company performance measured?
Where can I see sewage spills near me?
In England, each water and sewerage company now has to publish near real-time information on when its storm overflows start and stop discharging, under section 81 of the Environment Act 2021. Most companies show this on a map on their own website, and these are the closest thing to a live view of spills near you.
For a checked annual record, use the Environment Agency's Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) annual returns. They list every monitored overflow in England with its location, receiving water, number of spills and total hours spilled in the year.
A company's live map is operational data and can be revised. The EDM return is the figure regulators use. In Scotland the equivalent is published by Scottish Water and SEPA, and in Wales by Welsh Water and Natural Resources Wales. See our guide to Environment Agency data.
Related: How many sewage spills were there in England last year? · How do I check bathing water quality at a beach or river? · How is water company performance measured?
How do I check bathing water quality at a beach or river?
For England, use the Environment Agency's Swimfo service. It covers every designated bathing water, gives its annual classification (excellent, good, sufficient or poor) and, during the season from May to September, shows sample results and daily pollution risk warnings.
Scotland's bathing waters are on SEPA's bathing waters site, and Wales's on Natural Resources Wales's bathing water map. Northern Ireland's are published by DAERA.
The classification is based on four years of samples for two types of faecal bacteria, so it describes a site's typical risk, not today's conditions. Only designated sites are tested; most river stretches and many beaches are not bathing waters at all, so "no data" does not mean the water is clean.
Related: How do I check water quality in my area? · Where can I see sewage spills near me?
What is the recycling rate in the UK?
The official measure is the "waste from households" recycling rate. Defra's release of 31 March 2026 put England's rate at 43.8% in 2024, down from 44.0% in 2023. Rates for the 321 English councils ranged from 17.0% to 63.9% in 2024/25.
Full answer, with the latest figure and past values →
Related: What are UK greenhouse gas emissions? · Where can I download UK government data?
How is water company performance measured?
Two regulators publish annual ratings. Ofwat's Water company performance report compares the largest companies in England and Wales on leakage, supply interruptions, sewer flooding, pollution incidents, customer service and spending.
The Environment Agency's environmental performance assessment gives England's nine water and sewerage companies a star rating from one to four, based on pollution incidents, permit compliance and other measures. Each company also has its own data report.
The two reports measure different things and cover slightly different years (Ofwat's report years run April to March; the EA's are calendar years). The EA's assessment method changed for 2026 to 2030, so star ratings before and after the change are not like for like.
Related: What does Ofwat do? · How many sewage spills were there in England last year? · How much are water bills going up?
How many sewage spills were there in England last year?
The Environment Agency publishes the count each spring from water companies' Event Duration Monitoring returns. For 2025, its release of 26 March 2026 reported 291,492 spill events in England, an average of 20.5 per overflow, compared with 31.8 in 2024.
The underlying spreadsheets on data.gov.uk give totals by company and by individual overflow, plus a trend table from 2016. The dataset was revised in August 2026 after quality checks on one company's data, so use the current file rather than the March headline.
Spill numbers rise and fall with rainfall: the Environment Agency said much of the fall in 2025 reflected a dry year after a wet 2024. A "spill" is counted using the 12/24 hour method, so one spill can last many hours. Monitoring coverage also grew over time, which inflates early comparisons.
Related: Where can I see sewage spills near me? · How is water company performance measured? · What does Ofwat do?
Source guides for this topic
These answers say where official figures are published and how they are defined. They give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.