2012 UK Drought

[The PIT]

More rubbish from Village but never mind.

Anyway it's now looking like May will come in below average rainfall wise. So if we get the heat and go back to being dry in June I when the drought order gets re-instated here.

At the moment though everything growing like mad as Aprils moisture is still in the ground.

[Terminal Moraine]

May looks likely to drier than average here too unless the early part of next week comes up with the goods.

Currently on 56.9 mm for the month and the 30 year average ( 1981-2010 ) is 69.1 mm.

[Methuselah]

I think I have clearly been vindicated......there is no UK wide drought, there never was. It is a problem for the water companies to invest in the infastructure to cope with increased demand at times of dry weather.

All the nonsense about the majority of the UK in a drought situation while it chucked it down everywhere for weeks and weeks amounted to pure hysteria about nothing. As I said a month ago....its only one small region in England who need to be carefiul because they take ground water and the water companies have failed to invest in alternative supplies.

Almost the whole of the rest of the country is absolutely not in a drought. Rain is never far away in this island of ours.

No, there wasn't a UK drought, and there never was...It was only ever you and the Daily Mail (along with the rest of the gutter Press) that have ever said there was...Another straw man put to the sword?

[HighPressure]

BBC Sout East News reporting tonight that Southern Water will be lifting restrictions shortly. I expect over companies to follow suit eventually. As I have said previously there is now no need for wholesale resrictions if any at all.

There maybe pockets within areas that rely on groundwater supplies and some small companie such as Sutton & East Surrey where they could make an argunment for continued restrictions but the majority need to be lifted.

[Coast]

Thames Water could lift hosepipe ban early

• Drought ends in parts of England
  
• Thames Water has said it could lift its hosepipe ban sooner than expected after wet weather cut the risk of drought.
  

The company, which serves 8.8 million customers in London and the Thames Valley area, said it no longer expected to keep the ban through to the autumn. Seven water firms across southern and eastern England brought in restrictions in April after two dry winters. But the bans were followed by record rainfall across the UK in April and more in May. When the bans were introduced the companies warned they could last past the autumn and possibly into the winter. But the latest drought briefing from the Environment Agency said the wet weather had significantly reduced the risk of drought and widespread water restrictions this summer.

'Saharan twist'

River levels and reservoir stocks, which had fallen as low as in the drought year of 1976, have improved significantly and further water restrictions for the public and businesses are unlikely, the agency said. Richard Aylard, sustainability director for Thames Water, pledged it would not keep restrictions in place for any longer than was necessary and said customers would be updated on the situation towards the end of June. "But unless the topsy-turvy British weather delivers an unexpectedly Saharan twist, we no longer expect to need to keep the ban in place right through to the autumn," he said. While the rain has improved the situation, a third dry winter could see conditions "deteriorate" again and lead to the possibility of more water restrictions next year, the Environment Agency warned.

Groundwater levels low

In addition, groundwater levels are still well below normal in some areas and are unlikely to improve before the winter. Some areas need as much as 140% of long-term average rainfall this winter to fully recover. Hosepipe bans remain in place for customers of Anglian Water, South East Water, parts of Southern Water, Sutton and East Surrey Water, Thames Water, Veolia Central and Veolia South East. Companies which take most of their water from underground are likely to have to keep bans in place for longer as groundwater levels remain low. South East Water, Sutton and East Surrey Water, Veolia Water Central and Veolia Water Southeast have confirmed their hosepipe bans remain in place. The companies said their supplies were heavily dependent on ground water resources, which remain significantly or even severely depleted.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18350192

[Coast]

http://www.dailymail...o=feeds-newsxml

Details of the recovery, which will come as no surprise to a nation battered by rain and floods, are revealed in a study published today by the agency. The bad news is there may be no let up of rain over the summer. The report goes on to say it is more likely that the country, particularly the South, will have a wet rather than a dry summer. Agency head of water resources Trevor Bishop said: ‘We have seen a huge improvement in water resources in just a few short months, putting us in a much more positive position for the summer.

‘While the downpours in April were pretty miserable, they were really welcome as water companies were able to refill their reservoirs, river levels are mostly back to normal, and many wildlife habitats that were suffering have recovered.’ The organisation, which advises the Government on water supplies and the state of rivers, said it is now for companies to make a decision on when to lift their hosepipe bans. Seven water companies including the country’s biggest supplier, Thames, plus Anglian and Southern Water, imposed a ban backed by fines of up to £1,000 on April 5.

They blamed two dry winters in a row and indicated that the only way to keep the taps flowing would be to continue the ban through the summer until the end of 2012. However, the Daily Mail revealed yesterday that the agency and water companies have come under pressure from the Government to cancel the restrictions earlier than expected. Today’s report has given the companies sufficient room for manoeuvre to end the ban later this month.

[Summer Sun]

This won't help the drought loosing 2 million litres of water thanks to blundering workmen

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2155978/Tube-line-flooded-TWO-MILLION-litres-water-blundering-workmen-near-Olympic-station.html

[Aaron]

'Blundering workmen' lol

[HighPressure]

This won't help the drought loosing 2 million litres of water thanks to blundering workmen

http://www.dailymail...ic-station.html

Chicken feed, just over 1 minutes production for Thames and just a little baby burst. Honestly the media are terrible for this sort of thing and I am one of Thames Waters biggest critics.

Its not easy isolating a burst main when the road is underwater - how do you find the valves ???

Edited June 7, 2012 by HighPressure

[Village]

I live in the south east in Essex, just a few miles from what is officially the driest place in the UK with only 19 inches of rain per year.

We dont have a hosepipe ban in force and there are no plans for one. Our rainfall has been normal right up until this spring. Our rainfall is now running way above average. All our reservoirs are at very healthy levels and the rivers are overflowing.

I think that the region where there has been lower rainfall is not representative of the whole of the rest of the country. There was talk of this year being as bad as 1976. I did predict that we would be looking at floods by May. I think that the water companies are mis-managing the water supplies and not investing enough to keep up with increasing demand.

IMO this country is not in a drought situation. Its nothing like one.

What drought?

Can we finally put this to bed now?

[The PIT]

What drought?

Can we finally put this to bed now?

The one that effected parts of the country until a rather wet april.

[Aaron]

No point telling Village that, since Essex wasn't in drought (apparently), nowhere was.

Edited June 8, 2012 by Aaron

[Cloud 10]

Come back drought,all is forgiven.

[HighPressure]

I would interested to know whether or not a technical drought still exists?

Given the amount of rain we have had we must be catching up what could be termed a non-drought situation?

[Summer Sun]

Hosepipe Ban: Water Firms To End Restrictions

Three of the UK's biggest water companies are to announce they are lifting hosepipe bans which have been in place since April.

Thames Water, Anglian Water and Southern Water will formally confirm the end of the restrictions today before they are officially lifted tomorrow.

Seven water companies across southern and eastern England brought in hosepipe bans to combat drought, after two unusually dry winters left some groundwater supplies and rivers as low as in the drought year of 1976.

But the restrictions introduced early in April were followed by record rainfall across the UK for that month, and more rain in May and the beginning of June.

South East Water, Sutton and East Surrey Water, Veolia Water Central and Veolia Water Southeast have hosepipe bans remaining in place.

South East Water has said its ban will remain in place. The others were unavailable for comment.

All is not lost for a sunny summer though. Forecasters say there "are some hints of sun towards the end of the month but that is uncertain".

http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16246114

[Coast]

The announcement follows one of the wettest starts to a British summer ever, which coincidentally began almost the day after the bans were imposed. April was the rainiest on record, followed by steady rainfall throughout May. The first two weeks of June has been equally wet, causing widespread flooding in several parts of the UK, with the month on course to be the wettest summer month since records began.

And water companies, who had initially feared stocks running low after back-to-back dry winters in 2010/11 and 2011/12, will now announce the lifting of the hosepipe bans after their reservoirs were replenished. 'We have had two-and-a-half times the average rainfall for April, we have had steady showers in May and then monsoon downpours in June - that's changed things,' a spokesperson for Thames Water said. Anglian Water said the reduction in the use of water by households because of the heavy rain had also been a factor - suggesting the hosepipe ban had, in effect, done its job. 'It's been because of supply and demand, it has recharged,' a spokesman said

http://www.metro.co....e#ixzz1xfdvEVGi

[Village]

Village, on 26 April 2012 - 10:30 , said:

There was talk of this year being as bad as 1976. I did predict that we would be looking at floods by May. I think that the water companies are mis-managing the water supplies and not investing enough to keep up with increasing demand.

IMO this country is not in a drought situation. Its nothing like one.

What drought? Can we finally put this to bed now?

Well here we are and the final hosepipe ban is now removed.

The so called experts told us, the situation was the worst ever recorded, they told us to prepare for a summer like 1976, they said that even if it rained that at this time of year all the water is used up by the plants, they told us that at this time of year all the water just runs off the surface, they told us that we cannot rely on summer rainfall to replenish ground water stocks, they told us that we would be in drought until at least this winter.

Experts!! Who the hell were these people? I am not an expert and I clearly understood that they were talking rubbish and I wasnt being fooled as some clearly were. I predicted to prepair for floods and lots of rain. The experts at the Met Office said the opposite.

Lesson learned.....to all those who were sucked in by the hype and nonsense, my message is; dont simply believe all you hear and see just because a so called expert told you a story on the BBC. Use your own inteligence and experience to make your own mind up.

We are an island in the middle of the North Atlantic surrounded by low pressure and lots of water and moisture. We are not a desert, nothing like it.

Edited July 9, 2012 by Village

[TonyH]

Well it was just about the worst since 1976 until the rains arrived, and honestly who could have predicted (not guessed) just how much the rain would arrive or when?

[TonyH]

Just been looking back at the first couple of pages of this thread, are we living on the same planet

[shedhead]

Well it was just about the worst since 1976 until the rains arrived, and honestly who could have predicted (not guessed) just how much the rain would arrive or when?

No one knew Tony, but some of us made the point at the time that a balance would come (as it always does) and even as the bans/drought orders were being announced the longer

term modelling was predicting a possible pattern change.

Frankly some of the rhetoric at the time was crazy, stuff like 'even if it rains for 12-18 months we won't replenish the ground water levels' which was foundationless scaremongering at best.

I think the whole thing was very poorly managed to be honest. I bet If the MO/EA had their time again they would have waited another week or two before going completely OTT, not

because they got it hideously wrong, but because the whole debacle could have been avoided by them having a more professional approach.

[TonyH]

Ah you mean like someone did back on page 4?

We will be paying for this deficit before too long, be it a mild wet Winter, or a washout Spring/ Summer next year!

[shedhead]

Well this is what I said back in Feb... not saying I knew very much for sure, but what I did know is a balance would come and given the length of the dry spell at the time that balance was becoming ever more likely.

shedhead, on 23 February 2012 - 15:44 , said:

Seen this kind of thing time and time again, nature always balances itself out and it will here. Just watch us have a wet Spring and Summer now... come June this will just be yet another non story.

Edited July 9, 2012 by shedhead

[TonyH]

Yes we all guessing, equally this Summer may have been dry?

[Ladyofthestorm]

its taken them a while to declare the drought over hasnt it!

I can see the cartoon right now, someone with a snorkle standing in oxford street in london saying, yep, I think we can lift the hosepipe ban!

[Nick L]

Well after one of the worst droughts in living memory, it was inevitable we would have a monumental washout. I would prefer this than water shortages though, that's for sure.

Village, on 26 April 2012 - 10:30 , said:

There was talk of this year being as bad as 1976. I did predict that we would be looking at floods by May. I think that the water companies are mis-managing the water supplies and not investing enough to keep up with increasing demand.

IMO this country is not in a drought situation. Its nothing like one.

Well here we are and the final hosepipe ban is now removed.

The so called experts told us, the situation was the worst ever recorded, they told us to prepare for a summer like 1976, they said that even if it rained that at this time of year all the water is used up by the plants, they told us that at this time of year all the water just runs off the surface, they told us that we cannot rely on summer rainfall to replenish ground water stocks, they told us that we would be in drought until at least this winter.

Experts!! Who the hell were these people? I am not an expert and I clearly understood that they were talking rubbish and I wasnt being fooled as some clearly were. I predicted to prepair for floods and lots of rain. The experts at the Met Office said the opposite.

Lesson learned.....to all those who were sucked in by the hype and nonsense, my message is; dont simply believe all you hear and see just because a so called expert told you a story on the BBC. Use your own inteligence and experience to make your own mind up.

We are an island in the middle of the North Atlantic surrounded by low pressure and lots of water and moisture. We are not a desert, nothing like it.

Congratulations...