Lost village hidden for decades under reservoir reappears after horrific UK drought

A lost village hidden under a reservoir for decades has reappeared as a lengthy drought continues. The village of Derwent, in Derbyshire, was deliberately flooded in the 1940s during the construction of Ladybower Reservoir, which was built between 1935 and 1943. Ladybower reservoir's water levels now stand at just 32 per cent capacity following a lengthy dry spell that led to a drought being declared in the East Midlands in August. Churches, cottages and a pump house were lost when the Derwent Valley was flooded . Locals strongly hit out against the plan at the time, which was aimed at serving the nearby cities of Derby, Sheffield, Nottingham and Leicester. Now new overhead images shows what remains of the village with some still retaining many of their key features. While the ruins of the lost village have been exposed due to the flood, visitors have been asked to keep to the nearby paths as the reservoir bed is "extremely muddy and not safe to walk on". Figures from the Environment Agency show a majority of regions in England are in drought conditions following record-breaking heatwaves over the summer. Some 82 per cent of the country is in a drought with 18 reservoir groups under half capacity. They would require significant rainfall over the autumn and winter to replace the amount lost. "We've seen six months of below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures so reservoir levels will take time to recover, but overall, across our region we've more stored than this time last year," said Doug Clarke, Severn Trent's water resources lead, reports the BBC . "Reservoirs make up around a third of our water supplies, with the rest coming from rivers and groundwater, and our teams are continuing to work around the clock to treat more water and fix leaks at record levels. "But we're also asking customers to continue using water wisely all year round, to help ensure there is always enough to go around." Ladybower Reservoir can retain an impressive 2,869 mega litres of water and underwent major refurbishment in the 1990s to raise and increase the strength of the dam's wall to reduce the risk of "over-topping" in a major flood.