Britain’s rivers are facing exceptionally low water levels this summer which could worsen in the coming months, climate authorities have warned, as parts of the country face a risk of drought.
The warning comes amid the driest spring in England since 1961, after April received just half of its normal expected rainfall.
The situation is worse in northern England after parts of Northumbria and Cumbria saw the driest start to the year since 1929.
The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), in its outlook for May, said it expected almost all of the UK to record below normal or low river levels for the month.
The Environment Agency, meanwhile, said the UK was now at “medium risk” of drought and warned that some water companies may implement restrictions for households if rainfall was not imminent.
Amid the drought concerns, the warm weather is only set to continue with temperatures consistently peaking above 20°C for most of the country, and remaining hotter than Ibiza this weekend.
Temperatures are likely to reach highs of 25°C on Sunday in western areas of England and parts of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
As of Friday, 80.6mm of rain has been recorded for the UK this spring, nearly 20mm less than the record low for the full season of 100.7mm set in 1852.
With more than two weeks left of the season, the Met Office said it is too early to say how spring as a whole will rank.
But the Environment Agency, in its weekly rainfall and river flow summary for the past week, calculated between 7 and 13 May, said “river flows decreased at nearly all” of the 54 sites that the agency reports from.
Rainfall totals for May ranged from a peak of 10 per cent of the long-term average to just one per cent of the average expected rainfall for the time of year.
The rainfall total for England during the first 13 days of May was 4mm, some six per cent of the total expected rainfall.
River flow statuses, relative to historic daily mean flows (Source: Environment Agency)Only two sites were considered above average, in Cornwall and Hertfordshire, and 14 were classed as normal, mostly ranging across southern England.
A further 14 sites were considered below normal, while seven sites were deemed “notably low” and 17 sites were classed as exceptionally low for the time of year.
The 38 areas that appeared to be at risk of drought spanned across the whole of England but were particularly bad in the Midlands, north-west and north-east England.
The outlook for the end of May warns of below normal river flows across most of the UK, except southern Wales and south-west England, where flows are likely to be normal.
Scotland and Northern Ireland should also remain normal from May until July.
Drought not official yet
The National Drought Group, a committee led by the Government that declares when a drought is officially underway, warned would it be a “crucial” few weeks going into the end of May.
The country is not officially in drought yet, despite the exceptionally dry weather.
A lack of rainfall will heavily impact farmers and food production, likely resulting in more produce being imported.
The last drought was between June and August 2022, during the joint hottest summer, with 2018, and the fifth driest since the 1890s. That drought was preceded by six months of very dry weather.
The Met Office said the driver for the prolonged warm and very dry spell has been high pressure.
The rainfall outlook for May is normal to low flows in almost all areas (Source: The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)The dry weather has led to the largest area of the UK falling victim to wildfires this year compared with any other year.
Firecrews on Thursday were dispatched to a blaze at a plot of land measuring 800 metres in Cumnock, East Ayrshire. Another fire in Bathgate, West Lothian, this week took five days to put out.
Six teenage boys were also charged after an alleged deliberate fire at Portlethen Moss, near Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, last Saturday.
Scotland’s Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park Authority said it has seen “unprecedented” numbers of bin fires this year.
Despite the drought concerns, the Met Office said blue skies would continue for much of the coming week.
Met Office forecaster Tom Morgan said: “This weekend will really be a continuation of what we’ve seen over the last week or two, lots of sun shining.
“A few caveats, eastern parts of the UK will see generally cloudier skies in the mornings first thing, both tomorrow and on Sunday.
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Read More“And it’s been those eastern coasts where it’s been pretty cool and cloudy through recent days, so if you are stuck on the North Sea coasts of England in particular, but also north-east Scotland, there will be some low cloud and temperatures very much suppressed, but for the vast majority, blue skies through the afternoons and temperatures in the low 20s.
“Tomorrow, probably 23 or 24°C is on the cards in several areas.
“Sunday will probably be the slightly warmer day, so 22 to 24°C a bit more widespread across the west, so the central belt of Scotland, Northern Ireland, north-west England, east Wales and south-west England, perhaps an isolated 25°C.”
Morgan said there may be rainfall at the end of the month, though not necessarily enough to be “useful” for farmers after the dry spell.
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