The drought crisis gripping the UK is revealed in a new Met Office map showing areas where just 3% of expected rainfall came during the entire month of July as farmers warned of impending food shortages
Britain’s drought crisis is laid bare in new weather maps showing a frightening lack of rainfall across the country.
Half of England is currently under official drought conditions after some areas recorded almost no rainfall in the entire month of July.
While rain has fallen in areas further north in recent days, helping boost reservoirs and alleviate some of the severe impacts on farming, forecasts show more dry, hot weather in the Southeast of England – the hardest-hit region.
One weather map, issued by the Met Office, shows that rainfall was 65% below average across the UK last month. New maps issued by the service this week indicate the lack of rain has hampered soil moisture, which is causing havoc for farmers across the UK.
Large swathes of the UK is in a brown hue in the graphic, which indicates soil moisture is low – as much as 1% in some parts of the East of England and the Southeast of England – at the moment.
Soil moisture is a measurement favoured for showing the exact amount of water available in the ground to sustain plant life and agriculture. The benchmark required for supporting plants and wildlife is typically around 30%.
Reacting to this data, Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGovern said in a forecast bulletin: “It’s not good news – we really need the rain… You obviously need soil moisture for those plants to continue to thrive and we are seriously lacking in soil moisture across a large part of England and Wales.
“I’ve just picked a point there, but it’s representative of a large area of England or Wales, 1% soil moisture in that top 40 centimetres, less than 30% supposedly over a long period time. It really isn’t good news for plants and all sorts of wildlife that need plant life and so on.”
Southern England experienced just 3% of its long-term average rainfall for the month – its driest month ever recorded – while Wales was on 9%.
Only the far north of Scotland bucked the trend, recording 69% of its average rainfall after continued downpours and more changeable conditions.
Farmers sounded the warning this week that some everyday food staples – such as wheat, barley, and potatoes – could be set to jump in price due to shortages in the coming months after the worst summer harvest in living memory.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “We have taken food production for granted for too long; we must create a more resilient food system to feed the 29 million households across the country, and we can’t produce food without water.
“Those other countries around the world that we currently rely on to produce our food and vegetables, their climates are changing as well. It does feel like there is going be some shortages of products.”
Hosepipe bans have been in place across the Southeast of England and East Anglia for several weeks – and in Whitstable and Herne Bay, Kent, local residents have been urged to use water for essential purposes only to prevent a sudden loss of water supply.
South East Water’s Matthew Dean said: “Due to the prolonged period of hot and dry weather, water levels in our local drinking water storage tank in the Whitstable and Herne Bay areas continue to be extremely low.
“This may soon impact our ability to pump fresh drinking water to our customers. All customers are currently in supply. However, if demand for water continues to remain high, there is a risk of supply interruptions.”
He continued: “We’re continuing to ask customers to use water for essential purposes only: drinking, cooking and hygiene. This is in line with our temporary usage ban that is now in place for all of our 2.4 million customers across our supply area.
“To safeguard our shared resource and help prevent any homes from facing a sudden loss of water, we are incredibly grateful to everyone helping us protect water supplies in Kent.”
Showers are forecast across the Northeast of England on Thursday, but not enough to improve soil moisture significantly. Temperatures are likely to rise next week too, with 35C expected across the East of England and parts of the Southeast of England.