The Latest Breaking News from the Rivers Trust

Toxin levels in fish lead to calls for UK-wide ban on mercury dental fillings

Exclusive: More than 98% of fish and mussels tested in English waters contain mercury above EU safety limits

The Guardian - UK · Oct 30, 2025

Yorkshire rivers to benefit from £21m to clear barriers and boost nature

Old structures, often associated with mills and heavy industries that were powered by the region’s waterways, are being removed to allow fish passage.

Evening Standard · Oct 2, 2025

Revealed: river pollution twice as bad inside national parks as outside them

Exclusive: Campaigners attack ‘outrageous’ situation, saying waters in protected areas of England and Wales should be cleanest

The Guardian - UK · Sep 16, 2025

British and Irish rivers in desperate state from pollution, report reveals

Not a single waterway in England or Northern Ireland in good overall health, according to Rivers Trust

The Guardian - UK · Feb 26, 2024

‘Unacceptable’: how raw sewage has affected rivers in England and Wales – in maps

Hundreds of thousands of raw sewage discharges were recorded last year. These maps show where these were and what the impact is

The Guardian - UK · Sep 12, 2023

Rivers Trust weighs in on policy that could 'turn NI rivers and seas into open sewers'

"This move, if implemented, would result in significant pollution and environmental degradation"

Belfast Live · Jul 1, 2023

Chemical cocktails polluting lakes and rivers - including The Irwell and Mersey in Greater Manchester

The Irwell at Salford University in top ten for rivers with highest level of chemicals

Manchester Evening News · May 24, 2023

Which rivers in England have the highest number of chemical cocktails?

Toxic combinations of pesticides, pharmaceuticals and forever chemicals are polluting rivers up and down the country

Evening Standard · May 24, 2023

Chemical cocktails harmful to wildlife found in 81% of English rivers and lakes

Campaigners call for rigorous testing of waterways to protect species after analysis reveals scale of problem

The Guardian - UK · May 24, 2023