UK Faces Simultaneous Floods and Drought as Heavy Rain Forecast
Heavy rain is expected to hit the UK, but it will not reverse widespread drought conditions that have put pressure on wildlife, farmers, firefighters, and water resources.
The UK is bracing itself for a double whammy of floods and drought as heavy rain is forecast to fall on dry ground. While some areas will experience their first meaningful rain in a long time, it will not be enough to reverse the widespread drought conditions that have been affecting the country.
The summer's fifth climate crisis-driven heatwave is coming to an end, with the Met Office predicting wetter and cooler weather that is closer to the usual conditions for this time of year. Deputy chief forecaster Mike Silverstone said that showers are expected on Tuesday in the north of the country, particularly in the north-west, and another area of rain will move into the south-west by the evening.
This rain will then spread east across the south, bringing the first spell of widespread rain to areas most in need. However, as the rain falls on very dry and hard ground, there is a chance of some surface water flooding. Silverstone warned that some areas will miss the heavy showers altogether, while others will experience intense rainfall.
The forecast rain may bring some welcome relief to parched land and firefighters tackling wildfires, but water shortages will persist. South East Water has told customers in Kent to use water only for essential purposes, after taps ran dry on Monday for around 8,000 customers. Wessex Water has also imposed a hosepipe ban, covering 1.4 million customers in Bath, Somerset, Dorset, and Wiltshire.
The situation is "simply not good enough," according to a spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. They called on South East Water to go further and faster to reduce leaks and follow their drought plans to ensure supplies are not disrupted in even the driest of weather.
The Environment Agency has reported that five of England's key reservoirs are currently "exceptionally low." The National Hydrological Monitoring Programme has warned that low supplies are likely to persist into the autumn. Thames Water has also urged customers to continue to limit water use, as July rainfall in the Thames catchment area was less than 1mm, which is 2% of the long-term average.
Professor Liz Stephens, a climate risk and resilience expert at the University of Reading, said that it could take many weeks of sustained rainfall for vegetation to recover and rivers and reservoirs to return to normal. "Here in the south-east, we're still a month's worth of rain below what we would normally expect by this point in the year, despite the heavy rainfall in January and February," she said.
| Water Company | Customers Affected | Hosepipe Ban | | --- | --- | --- | | South East Water | 8,000 | Yes (since 3 July) | | Wessex Water | 1.4 million | Yes (since 18 August) |
The forecast rain may bring some welcome relief, but it will not be enough to reverse the widespread drought conditions that have been affecting the country. It could take many weeks of sustained rainfall for vegetation to recover and rivers and reservoirs to return to normal.
