England faces a “medium risk” of drought this summer, the Environment Agency (EA) has warned, after the country endured its driest start to spring in more than six decades.
Households are being warned that a hosepipe ban could come in as part of a series of measures in response to the continued lack of sustained rainfall from March this year.
The EA said the period from February to April this year was the driest in England since 1956, with rainfall in April down 50 per cent on the long-term average.
It was worse in northern England, the agency said, with parts of Cumbria and Northumbria seeing the driest start to the year since 1929.
And the warm weather across England is expected to continue, with the Met Office’s 14-day forecast predicting mostly dry and sunny conditions.
It has prompted the boss of one water company to warn that it may have to introduce a hosepipe ban this summer.
Chris Weston, Thames Water chief executive, told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee the company was doing “all we need to” to prepare for potential water shortages, and had learned from 2022’s drought year when it came close to running out of water.
But he said: “I am confident we won’t run out of water, I’m not confident we won’t have to restrict usage, because that will depend on what the weather does and what rainfall happens between now and the summer.”
It could provide another headache for the company, which has been under the spotlight after it was revealed that bosses received £770,000 in bonuses despite regulators saying it was not justified.
Sir Adrian Montague, chairman of the company, told MPs on Tuesday that he wanted to apologise to customers over its performance, including on pollution spills.
However, the latest update by the EA issued last week showed river flows were generally normal in southeast and eastern England, where Thames Water operates.
In contrast, rivers and reservoirs were lower than normal in central and northern England, with the EA warning that levels were dropping earlier than typically expected.
In a weekly rainfall and river flow summary published by the EA last week, 14 monitoring sites on rivers, mainly in the north of England, showed river flows were “exceptionally low” for this time of year.
They included the Don in Doncaster in South Yorkshire, the River Swale at Crakehill Topcliffe in North Yorkshire and the South Tyne in Haydon Bridge in Northumberland.
England’s overall reservoir storage stood at 84 per cent at the end of April, lower than at this time of year in the drought summer of 2022.
But in northwest England it was 73 per cent, while Haweswater and Thirlmere reservoirs in Cumbria were at 62 per cent, due to a combination of low river levels and planned maintenance earlier in the year.
Industry body Water UK said water companies were responding to the dry weather by repairing leaks and moving water across regions to relieve the driest areas.
Although no hosepipe ban has been enforced, the body said customers could help leave more water in the environment by making small changes at home and in the garden.
If a drought happens, water companies have plans in place including implementing restrictions through hosepipe bans.
What is a hosepipe ban?
A hosepipe ban is a restriction enforced by water companies to help manage the levels of water.
Under the ban, households cannot use a hosepipe for tasks such as watering your garden, filling a paddling pool or washing your car.
People can still use a watering can or a bucket.
Anyone found breaking the rules can be fined up to £1,000.
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