Water companies released raw sewage into England's rivers and seas for 48% fewer hours in 2025, compared with the year before, according to the Environment Agency. The regulator said most of this improvement can be put down to drier weather rather than infrastructure upgrades. Sewage is spilt when it is raining to prevent the system becoming overwhelmed and backing up into people's homes. So with less rain there are fewer sewage releases. Environmental charities said the lower numbers were "not evidence of real change", but the industry body Water UK said the country was starting to see the effect of companies tripling investment in infrastructure. In 2025, there were 1.9 million hours of sewage spilled, compared to 3.6 million hours the year before. England, like the rest of the UK, has a combined sewage network which means that both rain and sewage enter the same system.…