15 hours Ago By Tom Bawden
The UK faces the prospect of hosepipe bans within weeks if the exceptionally dry and warm conditions of the last two months continue for much longer, experts warn.The country as a whole saw only 43 per cent of its average rainfall in March – with England and Wales recording just a quarter and the Thames and Wessex regions just 13 per cent of their long-term averages.These low levels continue a period of well-below average rainfall that began in October and accelerated in February.
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addToArray({"pos": "inread-hb-ros-inews"}); }And while the data for April won’t be published until Thursday, Met Office rainfall maps for the period until 28 April show levels were similar to those in March – leaving rivers and groundwater supplies depleted.“We’ve seen quite a significant departure from average, with about half the amount of rain we’d normally see in the UK at this point in spring,” said Met Office meteorologist Dr Aidan McGivern.“I know a lot of people are crying out for rain but it doesn’t look like, away from the north of Scotland, we are going to see an awful lot of it through next week.
“And that is not going to do wonders for the rainfall totals that we’re seeing across the UK this spring,” he said, adding the the spring weather has also been extremely warm.if(window.adverts) { window.
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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l1"}); }“I wouldn’t be surprised if its the warmest March, April period on record,” he told The i Paper.A paddleboarder heads for the sea during the morning sunshine in Dover, Kent, as the warm weather continues across the country (Photo: PA)As March was the 10th warmest on record (and the sunniest) this suggests that April could comfortably be the warmest on record, although Dr McGivern’s comment is not a definitive prediction.
Steve Turner, a hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), told The i Paper that “late spring rainfall will be influential in dictating the outlook for the summer”.He notes that the Met Office long-range forecast indicates that average rainfall is likely across the UK in May, June and July. “However, starting from an already dry baseline, it may take very wet conditions for river flows and groundwater levels to return to normal conditions,” he added.
“If dry conditions persist over the next few months, water companies may begin to implement strategies such as increasing communications for customers about water efficiency and reduced usage and, if necessary, hosepipe bans.”Rainfall records for January, February and March 2025 (Photo: Met Office)Water specialists say the country is in a similar position as it was at this point in 2022 – when six water companies went on to introduce hosepipe bans in July that affected around 20 million people.if(window.
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adverts) { window.adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l2"}); }Alistair Chisholm, director of policy at the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), told The i Paper: “If the weather carries on for another couple of months on the same trajectory that it has done in the last two months, then I see no reason why we wouldn’t see hosepipe bans.
“This spring feels incredibly familiar to spring 2022. In that year we went from a situation of totally comfortable water resources in the winter – everything pretty much topped up – to a really quite dicey situation where six water companies were bringing in hose pipe bans by July. “That was because of an exceptionally dry spring which became an exceptionally hot early summer.
”Mr Chisholm added: “If it is this dry for a prolonged period of time, then hosepipe bans and water challenges are a likelihood. “We haven’t done anything since 2022 that is really meaningfully going to change the situation. “We haven’t built any more reservoirs, the Government haven’t moved any water efficiency polices on in that time.
So if we get very similar conditions we’ll end up in a very similar place.”#color-context-related-article-3665944 {--inews-color-primary: #E33A11;--inews-color-secondary: #F7F3EF;--inews-color-tertiary: #E33A11;} Read Next square WEATHER .inews__post__label__explained{background-color: #0a0a0a;color: #ffffff;}ExplainedWhere 'mini heatwave' will hit as highs of 30°C possibleRead MoreMr Chisholm pointed out that, of course, “it could pour with rain in May or June” meaning any risk could be averted.
But, on other hand, “we could see hosepipe bans coming in earlier than in 2022”.if(window.adverts) { window.
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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l3"}); }“One of the criticisms of that year was the application process for temporary use ban permits was still paper-based with a slow turnaround time,” he added.“This meant that by the time bans were actually brought in we were deep into drought and ideally companies would have brought those measures in many weeks earlier to slightly ease some pressures.
”Predicting which areas are at highest risk of hosepipe bans is not as simple as analysing recent rainfall patterns and temperatures. It also depends on population numbers, local reservoir capacity and how much water comes from groundwater..
