World's stored water is 42% below normal, and rivers swing between too little and too much

Rivers around the world had one of their driest years in more than 30 years in 2025, a new report says. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says the world's water cycle now swings more and more between too little water and too much.

Only about a third of the world's rivers carried their normal amount of water. 36% of river areas had less water than normal, and 21% had more. For the seventh year in a row, normal was rare: 34 to 38% of river areas were normal, compared with 46% between 1991 and 2020.

Water stored on land, under the ground, and in lakes, rivers, soil, snow, ice and plants, is also shrinking. Last year it was 42% below normal, and it has been falling since around 2014. "We are depleting that savings account," said Celeste Saulo, the head of the WMO. That means the world is using up its saved water. Glaciers lost 408 gigatonnes of ice in 2025, or 408 billion tonnes, and every large icy area shrank for the fourth year in a row.

The damage is not the same everywhere. Asia and Africa had at least half of all recorded water disasters in the past five years, and more than 80% of the deaths. In South and South-East Asia, cyclones and heavy seasonal rains were linked to up to 3,600 deaths in 2025.

Saulo said that "water respects no borders", so countries need to share information and warn people early. But Africa and Asia still have the least information, even though they are hit hardest.