‘Weeks of heavy rainfall, including the wettest April for 100 years, has finally seen the agency lift restrictions in large areas of the country.

South West England, the Midlands and parts of Yorkshire are no longer in drought due to Britain’s recent drenching, which the agency said had caused a dramatic increase in river and reservoir levels.

The good news also comes as the Met Office finally forecast a sunny and dry weekend for much of the UK this weekend.

It means large areas of the country will no longer face hosepipe bans over summer.

Many rivers and reservoirs around the country are now full following an extended period of heavy rain, although ground water still remains low in some areas, experts said.

The south-west of England and the Midlands were officially declared to be in drought on April 16.

However parts of East Anglia and South East England remain in drought, with water company restrictions in place on public water use because groundwater is still low in many areas.

The Environment Agency warned it will continue to keep drought status under continuous review.

It stressed that low groundwater levels remain a concern across England, with many still around 1976 levels and unlikely to return to normal levels before next winter.

The agency said that the parts of the country still experiencing temporary restrictions, were where half of the public water supply is provided by groundwater sources.

Until the start of April, England had 18 months of very low rainfall, but in its latest statement the agency said it had received the most rainfall in April in over 100 years.

It also reported that now river flows were “notably or exceptionally high at 48 per cent of sites across England”.

However groundwater levels are still exceptionally low in 42 per cent of testing sites in England’