Drought risk to England regions after dry February, scientists warn

It mightiness consciousness bedewed this week but experts are informing that parts of England request unseasonable rainfall to compensate for an abnormally adust winter.

Rivers successful immoderate of England and Wales ran their lowest connected grounds for February, according to information from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

England had its driest February for 30 years, according to the Met Office.

Rivers and reservoirs that proviso drinking h2o and provender crops trust connected wintertime rainfall to apical up earlier spring.

Without "unseasonably sustained rainfall" successful the coming months, South West England and East Anglia are astatine hazard of drought, the UKCEH explains.

"The bedewed upwind and snowfall during the archetypal 2 weeks of March has led to an summation successful stream flows and rewetting of the soils [but] immoderate areas of England were starting March with below-average groundwater levels oregon below-average reservoir stocks," Steve Turner astatine UKCEH told BBC News.

Drought was declared successful England and Wales past summer, starring to hosepipe bans, farmers losing crops and immoderate wildlife dying.

Rain successful February was besides successful abbreviated proviso successful Wales and Northern Ireland, with Wales seeing conscionable 22% of its mean for the month.

This had caused h2o levels to autumn successful reservoirs and successful groundwater, which proviso drinking h2o to millions. In Wales reservoir levels were astatine their lowest for February since 1996.

River flows were below-average crossed overmuch of the UK. The Trent successful the Midlands, Erch successful northbound Wales and Warleggan successful Cornwall each broke their records for lowest h2o levels successful February.

Low stream flows are a superior menace to wildlife arsenic they ore pollution, trim oxygen levels and tin impact food breeding patterns, explains Joan Edwards, manager of argumentation for The Wildlife Trusts.

"Last summer's devastating droughts should beryllium the wake-up telephone to support the astir precious of resources - water," she told BBC News.

Dry upwind besides poses superior problems for farming.

In East Anglia, conscionable 2.4mm rainfall fell connected Andrew Blenkiron's workplace compared to the accustomed magnitude of astir 50mm for February.

Low stream levels meant helium had small h2o to capable his reservoir. He has present been forced to chopped backmost connected plans to works potatoes, onions, parsnips and carrots by astir a fifth.

"We situation not works a harvest that requires irrigation," helium told BBC News.

His workplace had hardly recovered from the impacts of the aggravated vigor past summertime earlier the adust upwind this year.

It is piling connected the unit successful a twelvemonth erstwhile vigor prices person tripled his costs. He warns that if galore farmers are forced to trim their crops, it could impact nutrient supplies successful the autumn.

Last period the seat of the National Drought Group, John Leyland, warned that England was conscionable 1 adust spell distant from drought this summer.

The adust conditions successful February highlighted "the request to stay vigilant" particularly successful areas that person not recovered from the drought past year, a spokesperson for Environment Agency told BBC News.

"We cannot trust connected the upwind alone, which is wherefore the Environment Agency, h2o companies and our partners are taking enactment to guarantee h2o resources are successful the champion imaginable presumption some for the summertime and for aboriginal droughts," they added.

Data visualisation by Erwan Rivault