Still no real rainfall in your area?

[The PIT]

if that was true, there would be no global warming!

i dont need any rain now for a month.. ive had enough to keep my business going, its a great job in pleasant dry conditions, a bugger in the rain...

Still will balance out just maybe not in the way we like. If it stays dry you won't have much to do. No lawns to cut no hedges to cut just the odd plant to water.

[MP-R]

Still will balance out just maybe not in the way we like. If it stays dry you won't have much to do. No lawns to cut no hedges to cut just the odd plant to water.

Indeed, mowing the lawn is a home chore for me and seeing as it's a big lawn it's great not having to do it as often. The price however is the rather arid look to it despite it's length. On the upside though, the rest of the garden hasn't looked this good in a while and mainly because of the high sunshine levels we've had - something I think is sometimes more important than temperature or rainfall in the growing season.

All we need though is a change in pattern for a week or two and things will get back to normal over time. At the end of August 2006 our grass was the same colour as the fence but by the end of September 2006 is a lovely green colour again.

[Neilsouth]

It is fairly easy to understand what the bbc weather said, when they said 'most of the country needs rain'. doesn't mean everyone does it? majority needs rain, that did not mean you then did it? End of...

Again you don't read , i didn't say the bbc weather said " most of the country needs rain " this is what i said they should say , instead of them constantly saying " we do need the rain " we as in all. I was replying to THE EYE IN THE SKY

Anyway enough of this roundabout

Edited June 12, 2010 by neilsouth

[Gray-Wolf]

Seeing quite large beaches in the reservoirs around here (for the first time in years) so we must be down on our normal rainfall?

[William of Walworth]

Even here in SW Wales, rainfall levels have been very low (compared to regional averages) for a very long time.

My tolerence of this continuing for the forseeable future (being a festival goer rather than a garderner!) is pretty high, however ....

[SP1986]

I do gardening but I have a cactus bed that takes up a large proportion of the garden so it doesn't really bother me, it can stay like this until the end of Autumn if it likes.

[picog]

It has been very dry here too. Despite the recent rain in Wales, the rivers are still very low for the time of year. The grass for the animals (cows) is growing very poorly, and few have taken grass for the winter yet because it's just too short. We're also on a well for our water, so rain is always needed even during the summer. Having said that, we haven't run dry in the very hot summers (yet).

Edited June 13, 2010 by picog

[sunny scunny]

Ive been doing lots of gardening at work recently, and the ground is very dry indeed.Even todays showers have managed to avoid my area

[Snowyowl9]

This time last June we had 50mm of rain so very wet,this month has just overtaken with today`s very heavy thundery rain at 58mm`s and the brook has filled up and gone muddy!!!

Good job theres a dry spell coming now.

[La Bise]

I spend a lot of times in areas that are generally very wet (eg Peak District) and normally, I do so with wateproof boots, gaiters, even if the sun is out as the ground is boggy, peaty and muddy (sometimes all at the same time...) but at the moment my gaiters are in a bag at home and unless rain is forecast, I put on my mesh trainers that are like sponge yet my feet remain dry.

I spent 4 hours traipsing around the bogs on the moorlands above Tintwistle (Longendale) a week ago and my feet were dry, despite wearing those trainers, which is highly unusual. Today I walked past the reservoirs above Whalley Bridge and they don't look in great shape.

It has even affected me in term of what amount of water I carry, I normally have a filter bottle (Travel Tap) and simply refill at streams or tarns but a lot of them are dried out and I've found myself having to chase a spring on a number of times or filter some pond water (no concern about the filter but dirty water clogs it quicker). I even recently camped up Derwent Edge and pitched on a dried peat bog, very confy as it happens like a memory foam mattress but the wind blew dust inside my tent, it felt like I camped by a beach...which is not what you expect in that part of the world...

And that's in a fairly wet part of the country...

[J07]

I spend a lot of times in areas that are generally very wet (eg Peak District) and normally, I do so with wateproof boots, gaiters, even if the sun is out as the ground is boggy, peaty and muddy (sometimes all at the same time...) but at the moment my gaiters are in a bag at home and unless rain is forecast, I put on my mesh trainers that are like sponge yet my feet remain dry.

I spent 4 hours traipsing around the bogs on the moorlands above Tintwistle (Longendale) a week ago and my feet were dry, despite wearing those trainers, which is highly unusual. Today I walked past the reservoirs above Whalley Bridge and they don't look in great shape.

It has even affected me in term of what amount of water I carry, I normally have a filter bottle (Travel Tap) and simply refill at streams or tarns but a lot of them are dried out and I've found myself having to chase a spring on a number of times or filter some pond water (no concern about the filter but dirty water clogs it quicker). I even recently camped up Derwent Edge and pitched on a dried peat bog, very confy as it happens like a memory foam mattress but the wind blew dust inside my tent, it felt like I camped by a beach...which is not what you expect in that part of the world...

And that's in a fairly wet part of the country...

Does the water up there taste like whisky?

[summer blizzard]

It was certainly dry during April and May, however the situation is not even close to critical yet in my opinion, if we see a dry Autumn/Winter then we may declare a problem next Spring, but until then its nothing to worry about in my opinion.

Saying that, trees round here have been showing signs of drought stress.

[Neilsouth]

It was certainly dry during April and May, however the situation is not even close to critical yet in my opinion, if we see a dry Autumn/Winter then we may declare a problem next Spring, but until then its nothing to worry about in my opinion.

Saying that, trees round here have been showing signs of drought stress.

These are our tree's , everything is dense and overgrowing...

For example this year i found it difficult to walk via the river overgrown unlike last year when you could clearly see the path.

Edited June 14, 2010 by neilsouth

[Guest]

It's not often I have to say this but we need a lot of rain here too. There is a severe risk of wild fires now, my parents finally got action from the fire service today over an underground fire which has been burning in the woods at the back of their house for over three weeks. I went up to the fire site for the first time today and it was a very spooky experience. The area on fire seems to be about the size of three tennis courts. The upper parts of the trees are all ok at the moment but the thick mat of pine needles on the ground was smouldering away and in some places wafts of flame were licking out of the ground every now and again. You could walk around the burning parts but every now and again random puffs of smoke would come up through the pine needles on the floor of the wood. In some parts the pine needles had all burnt away so that a good portion of the roots of the trees are showing. I wish I'd had my camera as it was one of the strangest things I've seen in my life. I hope the fire is now out as their house is pretty much in the trees, I certainly wouldn't want something like that on my doorstep if I lived there.

Edited June 15, 2010 by CatchMyDrift

[Neilsouth]

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/181204

“Many river flows are still below normal for the time of year. Most of these rivers are in Wales, south-west, central and northern England.â€

If anyone wants rain , come to kent

[stewfox]

sorry but that is pathetic what you just said. you quote this, 'most parts need the rain', then put this 'well in this part of kent we dont need anymore.' that is stupid, you can already see the from the first quote that it says 'most' as in many areas of the country!!!! it doesn't mean everywhere. kent may have had more rain, but most of the country needs the rain. why can you not even see what this means?!

we dont all live in kent. just because it has been wet down there a lot, doesn't mean that when the forecasters say 'we need the rain' mean they are referrign to th ehwole country. you can tell they didnt say all the country because they said 'most' meaning the majority of the country. is there any point of this thread?

and if you are to complain even more, be thankfull you had a good summer down there where it was quite dry, so i hear.

Sorry I don’t get this rant ?.

The top of my Spa covering has had more then enough rainfall to cope with in the last few days.

If I hadn’t got rid of the surplus rain water I would heave feared the fabric would break.

I thought all forum members knew their garden was the meteorological centre of the universe and all weather revolved around it, all other weather reports were spurious at best ??.

So me and my Spa (cheap one), don’t get what the thread is about ??

Edited June 16, 2010 by stewfox

[Thundery wintry showers]

There are also differing degrees of value judgements and different levels of emphasis. I know that if I wanted a dry day, and a forecast for rain said "we need the rain", it wouldn't bother me, but if the forecast took the emphasis a lot further with comments like "hopefully some much needed-rain will arrive and thankfully it will be a wet day today" it would probably get on my nerves. However I've never seen a forecast go that far in emphasising welcome rain.

[SP1986]

To be fair I dont think a lack of rain should directly anyone, unless you run a horiticultural business for humid loving plants, or an industry that demand alot of water. Otherwise, why do we need water yet unless things get very bad, which will not happen yet (and most likely will never happen)

[Nick F]

I heard on the news recently that London has got a new de-salination plant on the Thames now - as a back up for when there maybe protracted dry spells in the future and the current system runs low. Not exactly environmentally friendly - but alternatives trying to water the 7 million + population of London alone are limited when land to build reservoirs in the SE is at a premium. Although the SE hasn't had water problems recently, it does make you wonder how the infrastructure will cope come a drought with the ever expanding population of the SE. Need to start laying them pipes from Scotland!

It is well known that parts of the UK (SE in particular) have less water to go around than parts of Spain, due to high population density.

[Guest]

I heard on the news recently that London has got a new de-salination plant on the Thames now - as a back up for when there maybe protracted dry spells in the future and the current system runs low. Not exactly environmentally friendly - but alternatives trying to water the 7 million + population of London alone are limited when land to build reservoirs in the SE is at a premium. Although the SE hasn't had water problems recently, it does make you wonder how the infrastructure will cope come a drought with the ever expanding population of the SE. Need to start laying them pipes from Scotland!

It is well known that parts of the UK (SE in particular) have less water to go around than parts of Spain, due to high population density.

It must be a risk particularly as the population of the SE rises and rises. I've been going on about the drier weather we've had here recently but the reality is Scotland is a long way off having anything approaching a drought going on. 400mm+ of rain in six months is actually quite wet by a lot of standards. I'm not sure about the idea of piping water from Scotland south, maybe Cumbria is easier? We'd need some huge reservoirs to allow a year round consistent supply although as water projects go I would think it is perfectly feasible.

Edited June 17, 2010 by CatchMyDrift

[Snow free zone]

In response to "we need the rain" the answer is most certainly yes.

Environment agency figures for the NW region issues on June 4th are suggesting there is a probability of a hosepipe ban by the end of June for the NW, and they have activated their drought plans. The lakes and reservoirs are struggling, and some rivers are running at dangerously low levels the Lune and Wyre included. This has been the driest start to a year i can remember for many,many years. I do a lot of work/driving up here where the water supplies are located in the Lakes, Thirlmere (55% full) is looking especially dodgy for the time of year, Haweswater (69% full) is the same.

Environment Agency

The above link gives the position as at June 4th, there has been no rain of any significance since this has been issued so i expect the next update to paint a worse picture.

I would think if we carry on like this another trip to Mardale could be the order of the day this summer.

Mardale

[damianslaw]

In response to "we need the rain" the answer is most certainly yes.

Environment agency figures for the NW region issues on June 4th are suggesting there is a probability of a hosepipe ban by the end of June for the NW, and they have activated their drought plans. The lakes and reservoirs are struggling, and some rivers are running at dangerously low levels the Lune and Wyre included. This has been the driest start to a year i can remember for many,many years. I do a lot of work/driving up here where the water supplies are located in the Lakes, Thirlmere (55% full) is looking especially dodgy for the time of year, Haweswater (69% full) is the same.

Environment Agency

The above link gives the position as at June 4th, there has been no rain of any significance since this has been issued so i expect the next update to paint a worse picture.

I would think if we carry on like this another trip to Mardale could be the order of the day this summer.

Yes it has been a dry first half of the year, after the exceptionally wet November, we have not had a sustained wet spell since. Whilst it hasn't been exceptionally dry, rivers are relatively low. The outlook remains positively dry and I wouldn't be surprised to see some hosepipes by July if conditions continue in similiar vein - lets see where we are in a couple of months, I still think a wet spell is imminent come July.

Mardale

[damianslaw]

Note the bbc have said it has been the driest start to a year since 1966, thus supporting people's perceptions of how dry this year has been so far. Whilst we have had much drier months on their own in other years up to this month, collectively the year has been consistently dry, the culprit being a very inactive atlantic - can't remember the last time we saw a deep low pressure over the country with strong winds - it will be a shock when the atlantic does steamroller in - and it is inevitable it will , things eventually balnce themselves out, I wouldn't be surprised to see the second half of the is year being a complete washout - I am expecting a very volatile and wet stormy autumn in particular with very active hurricane season - watch those lows track over the country on a rather southerly trajectory - and the second half of the summer to see much more unsettled weather.

[Guest]

Note the bbc have said it has been the driest start to a year since 1966, thus supporting people's perceptions of how dry this year has been so far. Whilst we have had much drier months on their own in other years up to this month, collectively the year has been consistently dry, the culprit being a very inactive atlantic - can't remember the last time we saw a deep low pressure over the country with strong winds - it will be a shock when the atlantic does steamroller in - and it is inevitable it will , things eventually balnce themselves out, I wouldn't be surprised to see the second half of the is year being a complete washout - I am expecting a very volatile and wet stormy autumn in particular with very active hurricane season - watch those lows track over the country on a rather southerly trajectory - and the second half of the summer to see much more unsettled weather.

Something I've either picked up on or just imagined to myself is the fact that we have had sporadic very very wet two or three day spells and then two weeks or more of mostly dry weather in between. For example, we had a very wet two days at the start of April (Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th) and a very snowy/rainy end to February (Wed 24th & Thurs 25th). Both these periods accounted for about 70% of the rainfall/precip for each month. This month we've had approx. 35mm of rain but 24mm of that fell in 2 days around the 7th and 8th of the month. I suppose this could just be the way the weather goes sometimes, and I simply haven't noticed before now?

[reef]

Something I've either picked up on or just imagined to myself is the fact that we have had sporadic very very wet two or three day spells and then two weeks or more of mostly dry weather in between. For example, we had a very wet two days at the start of April (Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th) and a very snowy/rainy end to February (Wed 24th & Thurs 25th). Both these periods accounted for about 70% of the rainfall/precip for each month. This month we've had approx. 35mm of rain but 24mm of that fell in 2 days around the 7th and 8th of the month. I suppose this could just be the way the weather goes sometimes, and I simply haven't noticed before now?

I dont think it happens all of the time but it is quite common. 2007 for example was a very wet year here with 975mm of rain (average is 587mm), yet it contained many long dry spells:

25th Jan - 7th Feb (12 days): 0.0mm

24th Mar - 8th May (47 days): 1.0mm

30th May - 12th Jun (14 days) 0.5mm

27th Jul - 13th Aug (18 days): 0.5mm

21st Aug - 18th Sep (29 days): 0.5mm

10th Oct - 9th Nov (31 days): 2.5mm

11th - 23rd Dec (13 days) 1.0mm

All of these spells are notable, some exceptionally so. Yet they are mostly forgotten due to the wetness of the rest of the year.

Also note how three of these spells spanned the summer months, which adds to the idea that even wet summers usually have a long dry spell in them.