River Thurso remains at ‘moderate’ water scarcity, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has said, amid an active ‘extreme’ wildfire warning for Caithness from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS)
A moderate water scarcity alert remains in place across the River Thurso catchment.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) made the announcement in its latest weekly update on Thursday.
It comes amid a drier end to September and active wildfire warnings for Caithness - with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service advising that there is an extreme risk of fire in the county on Friday.
The water scarcity levels for the Wick and Helmsdale river catchments remain at “alert” - the level below moderate scarcity - as too does the north coast area of Sutherland.
Elsewhere, the dry conditions have also led to worsening water scarcity across the Pentland Firth in Orkney.
The archipelago saw its water scarcity level raised to “significant” on Thursday - the highest possible alert level - after further low rainfall meant that “extremely low river flows have persisted” there.
For the latest updates on water scarcity levels in Caithness, Sutherland and beyond, go to https://beta.sepa.scot/water-scarcity/previous-reports/25-september-2025.