Hosepipe ban warning after early warm weather

8 April 2011

The recent warm wather may have been a welcome change after the winter, but after the driest March in 50 years, Britain could soon face a water shortage.

England and Wales received only 21mm of rain last month, a third of thelong-term average, according to the Environment Agency.

The situation is particularly bad in East Anglia, which is home to a large amount of the country's agricultural industry and uses a large amount of water for irrigation.

The lack of rain means water reserve are in danger of running low. In the South West, Bristol Water has been forced to pump water from the River Severn to conserve it's reservoirs.

The company's main source, Chew Valley Lake in Somerset, is 20% below normal levels fo this time of the year. (See news item for Bristol Water - 24 June 2010).

Water companies re closely monitoring the situation in case a hosepipe ban needs to be introduced, with warnings of another summer like 1976, when weeks of blazing heat caused reservoirs to run dry.