2012 UK Drought

[picog]

As soon as gardeners are advised to get drought-tolerant plants, the rain returns to normal. Let's hope it works this time too.

[TonyH]

Just watch after such a dry bland spell of weather were have a washout summer now to top it off :lol:

March is already looking desert like again and im sure April will be to and then bam.

Only minus the thunder!

[TonyH]

It's really not looking good:

http://drought.mssl....%2Fdrought.html

Strange that my location is in the severe drought zone, when rainfall has been at about 90% for the past 12 months. No drought problem for Wales that's for sure!

[UV-RAY]

Drought, not in this part of the world, so much water I leave the taps on 24 hours a day.

[summer blizzard]

I love how people are saying that we may not be able to take water for granted anymore and while i do think we need to prevent wastage i have a solution... Get the government to get off its behind and build a desalinization plant.

[The PIT]

Pretty dry this month so far. Dec above normal Jan normal and if this month stays the same it will be a just under average for winter. However this is following on from the 2nd driest year recorded here just failing to beat 75.

[Iceberg]

being very selfish I couldn't care less whether they have a hose pipe ban in the SE. Here in dorset there aren't any water problems. Bit of a none story IMHO.

The very people that will be affected by this are the people that should be more careful with water anyway. !

I love how people are saying that we may not be able to take water for granted anymore and while i do think we need to prevent wastage i have a solution... Get the government to get off its behind and build a desalinization plant.

But rather than the tax payer pay the money for this why not ensure that everybody is charged fairly for the water they use and make it law that all homes need a water meter by say 2014.

[Coast]

Maybe this is the real 'reason' behind the drought call????????

Farmers warn food prices could go up because of drought

Farmers have warned that food prices could go up because of the drought this summer as the Environment Secretary suggested water could be diverted from golf courses.

Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers Union, said ongoing drought in the South East and Anglia, the “bread basket of Britainâ€, will cut yields and force up prices. “As sure as night follows day if it doesn't rain, food prices will go up. I can guarantee you that,†he said. “If there is less water across bigger areas of northern Europe food will cost more money.â€

Drought-afflicted areas need 120 per cent of normal rainfall between now and March to avoid drought but the Met Office is forecasting a dry period. The Midlands are also very dry and could also be in a state of drought soon. Mr Kendall said in the past, when the UK relied on imported food, farmers were ignored during a drought. For example golf courses would continue to be watered - but farmers banned from irrigating crops.

"Bluntly you can still play golf on a brown golf course. What sort of society golf before affordable food?" he said. Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, agreed that farmland should be a priority in a drought. "The most important thing we can do is catch the water when it comes," she said. "Water capture and storage is the key to building resilience, not just for agriculture, for everyone in the country." Mr Kendall told the NFU’s annual conference the Treasury’s “woeful†decision to phase out tax allowances for reservoirs last year could make the situation worse. Without the financial incentive, farmers are less likely to build reservoirs that could store water and ensure crops survive the summer.

“Businesses used to be eligible for tax-relief if they built reservoirs. They no longer are. What kind of message does that send out to a vegetable producer who’s got to reduce his summer abstraction?†Mr Kendall said the Treasury should be working with the Department for the Environment to help water go further in future. “I can get my shiny German machinery and write it off against tax but if I am building a reservoir with UK labour, UK machinery, UK contractors there is no write-off. In terms of economic recovery and resilience it is a no-brainer.†Mr Kendall also said planning reform is needed to build large infrastructure on farms, despite the concern of conservation groups like the National Trust about development in rural areas. He urged the Government to “stick to its guns†in introducing a “presumption in favour of sustainable developmentâ€. “I know it has sparked significant opposition from conservation groups, but, as the Prime Minister has often said, the countryside has got to be allowed to prosper and grow. It can’t be left to fossilise.â€

Mrs Spelman warned that the current drought, caused by a run of dry winters, could become “the norm†because of climate change. She said digging reservoirs was a key part of building resilience and promised to speak to the Treasury. “The nation depends on farmers to grow food and for that you need water in the longer term,†she said. “We are looking at making it more attractive for you to have on-farm storage.†Mrs Spelman also said genetically modified crops could help to produce more food in times of drought. “Technology if used responsibly may be one of the tools that we need in terms of food security going forward.†Security was bumped up at this year’s annual conference in Birmingham because of animal rights activists protesting against the badger cull.

But Mrs Spelman insisted pilots culls will go ahead this autumn to stop the protected woodland creatures spreading the cattle disease bovine tuberculosis. “No one wants to kill badgers, of course they don’t, but a vaccine (against bovine TB) is not available for the foreseeable future.†Mrs Spelman also promised to cut red tape and work in Europe to ensure British farmers continue to be paid a subsidy and are not forced to set aside land for wildlife. “We know farming isn’t about filling in form after form, or merely making the countryside look pretty for visitors. It’s about the hard graft of putting food on our tables; and underpinning a countryside that lives works and thrives.â€

But Mark Driscoll, One Planet Food Lead at WWF-UK, said farmers should only continue to receive subsidies in return for helping the environment. “Calling for red tape to be scrapped is understandable as long as it doesn’t mean hard-won environmental protections are thrown out too,†he warned.

http://www.telegraph...of-drought.html

[Aaron]

being very selfish I couldn't care less whether they have a hose pipe ban in the SE. Here in dorset there aren't any water problems. Bit of a none story IMHO.

This is kind of ignorant..

[Coast]

Bit of a none story IMHO.

The very people that will be affected by this are the people that should be more careful with water anyway. !

So you'll have no concerns when/if food prices start rising then?

(and BTW, I have been on a water meter for 13 years and still pay less now than I did when it was un-metered)

[UV-RAY]

So you'll have no concerns when/if food prices start rising then?

(and BTW, I have been on a water meter for 13 years and still pay less now than I did when it was un-metered)

I only purchase locally produced goods, and up here the only problem we have with water, is there is far too much of it.

[Aaron]

It's still kind of ignorant to say 'you don't care'..

[TEITS]

. Bit of a none story IMHO.

The very people that will be affected by this are the people that should be more careful with water anyway. !

Silly statement to make.

My location is one of the driest in the UK but even for here the past 16 months have been exceptional. When you record less than 500mm in a 16 month period you're going to get problems. During the Autumn/winter Anglian water requested permission to take extra water from the River Nene to pump into the Rutland Reservoir. However very soon they will have to stop doing this because of the impacts it will have on the river levels.

The real concern though is what happens over the next 6 months.

[Iceberg]

So you'll have no concerns when/if food prices start rising then?

(and BTW, I have been on a water meter for 13 years and still pay less now than I did when it was un-metered)

i think thats the whole point coast when your on a meter you pay less because you have an encouragement to use less water, on average people use 30% less water when on a meter.

re food price increases afraid its just nfu greed imho. commodity prices for food are upto 100% higher than they were 3 years ago, so even if the farmers use less water they will only lose 20-30% of the yield and will get more for each planted field than they would have got previously.

also the nfu are not open as farmers are trying to make more money due to the high food prices by planting more crops than they would have a few years ago, more crops equal more water needed etc.

final point re prices but wholesale prices for food don't really have much to do with whether the yields in the se of england are 20% up or down.

I am not doubting that rainfall has been less for a few areas, but imho the word drought is over used and these stories have a big does of scare about them.

If farm yields are 10% down on last year, some farmers have ruined crops, or farmers see a drop in income or the effect is more than just a few people using less hosepipes and conserving a bit of water (which they should be doing anyway) then I'll happily say sorry.

at the end of the day people and farmers need to understand that water is a commodity and that they need to use it wisely, if this happened then droughts would be much rarer in this country i e if you live an area that doesnt get much water then don't complain when the weather does what it does all the time and you have dry years and wet years. btw i am not saying that anybody on this forum is complaining, just that i don't see this as any kind of story with merit tbh.

[DR Hosking]

serious drought here, local stream is almost empty and its mid winter and has been very low for over a year. So far this year we have had 56mm of rain, thats about 55% of what we should have had, and thats followed 66.5% of average rainfall for whole of last year. So very dry.

Incidentally this month there has been 32.5% of the rainfall we should expect and at the same time only 52% of the sunshine! So it has been very dry but also very dull!

[The PIT]

Just because it's been wet where you are or perceived wet it doesn't mean it's been the same everywhere else. Like I posted earlier we had 2nd driest year ever last year and we were wetter than areas to the south and east of us while the west and north were a lot wetter. This page should give you an idea http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/ rather than just guessing that what's happening in your area applies everywhere else.

Of course if spring turns out wet or summer turns out wet in the effected areas it should help resolve the issue.

[Iceberg]

Pit, as per my comment "I am not doubting that rainfall has been less for a few areas" i am not saying it's been wet everywhere by any stretch of the imagination, just that rainfall is highly variable which is what the metoffice maps you linked to showed and that we should learn to live with the variability and if you live in an area which is drought prone then people should really really live to learn with it and not expect to be able to have a garden full of water loving plants with perfect flowers and green green grass etc. equally farmers should probably not be expanding farming and or farming crops which require more water

anyway i'll bow out now...

[phil nw.]

Just because it's been wet where you are or perceived wet it doesn't mean it's been the same everywhere else. Like I posted earlier we had 2nd driest year ever last year and we were wetter than areas to the south and east of us while the west and north were a lot wetter. This page should give you an idea http://www.metoffice...te/uk/anomacts/ rather than just guessing that what's happening in your area applies everywhere else.

Of course if spring turns out wet or summer turns out wet in the effected areas it should help resolve the issue.

Thanks for reminding me of that link Pit.

The image for the whole of 2011 says it all.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/2011/17/2011_17_Rainfall_Anomaly_1971-2000.gif

[Richard2901]

Winter has been very dry here. Only the lack of snow and frost has been more exceptional than the lack of rain.

Winter total only 92.0mm - 54% of average - and not likely to get much more by the looks of things. Had zero today and yesterday.

November also had a very low rain total so total for the 114 days since 1st Nov has been just 120.2mm or 48% average. Only 6 of those days have had as much as 5mm (3rd Nov, 8th Dec, 12th Dec, 3rd Jan, 22nd Jan, 9th Feb) and only the 8th Dec with 11.2mm had more than 10mm.

Last 4 months rain totals:

Nov: 28.2mm (35% of average)

Dec: 40.2mm (58% of average)

Jan: 33.8mm (55% of average)

Feb: 18.0mm (45% of average to 22nd)

I'm not in the least worried and am glad the prolonged wet spell that lasted from May 2009 to September 2011 is finally at an end. I'd be delighted to see these types of anomalies last the whole year. Very unlikely but a nearby site recorded just 396mm over a 12-month period in 1972/73 which would equate to barely half the average.

[damianslaw]

Its been a very wet day here which is good news for Thirlmere and Haweswater - I understand both are nearly 100% full despite the relatively dry last few weeks - mind we did see a wet december and average rainfall in Jan. The NW-SE spilt continues indicative of the pressure pattern over the last 12 months or so which has been for strong heights to south/southwest and low heights far to our NW - a pattern we saw alot of during the drought years of 1989 and 1990.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Locally very wet here yesterday anyway, with just shy of 30mm of rain falling in Great Asby whilst in Appleby, just five miles away, less than 2mm fell.

Squeezed 137mm of rain out so far this year which is half what we had to this time last year, but double what we'd had by this time two years ago.

[johnholmes]

Its incredibly expensive but I think that the country is going to have to face up to developing a piping system from the wet west/NW into the frier regions. A long term project but it has to be done eventually. I wonder if the canal system could be utilised in some way?

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Good old infrastructure project could be just what this country needs. They could bung the National Grid underground at the same time if they thought about it, and lay lots of lovely fibre optics too.

[johnholmes]

Good old infrastructure project could be just what this country needs. They could bung the National Grid underground at the same time if they thought about it, and lay lots of lovely fibre optics too.

lets not carried away OON-fibre optics-in this area is about as much a dream as having a full water infrastructure for the whole country. If I'm lucky I get about 4.8MBPS but it can drop to 500KBPS just once in a while. After extensive checks with my ISP they have decided its 'within what BT can provide'! !

Edited February 23, 2012 by johnholmes

[Wynn D Woo]

Good old infrastructure project could be just what this country needs. They could bung the National Grid underground at the same time if they thought about it, and lay lots of lovely fibre optics too.

This all involves common sense though so it will never make it through the House of Commons, and heaven forbid utilities actually think of improving their services at the expense of shareholder payouts!