Drought

[Crookedbillet]

I have just been looking at the weather for the next 7 days and there is no rain expected over this period.

When was the last time it actually rained in Burnley? I can not remember it raining at all in the last month!?

[Pikehillclaret]

Hope the Drought doesn't happen @ your user name lol

[MrTopTier]

I have just been looking at the weather for the next 7 days and there is no rain expected over this period.

When was the last time it actually rained in Burnley? I can not remember it raining at all in the last month!?

21st April

[CharlieinNewMexico]

O’Neill

[Crookedbillet]

Hope the Drought doesn't happen @ your user name lol

There will be no drought in there, I can assure you of that

[beddie]

We’re based near Skipton. Yorkshire Water mentioned last evening a ban is not far away with us unless people use less and it rains very soon. They mentioned the good work that they have been doing, when the representative said ”we’ve managed to fix at least 15% of leaks I nearly fell over, even had it been 65% would in my eyes have been below what the tax payer expects. Our water rates have gone up again like most people’s throughout the country but the service is still well below what I’d expect it to be. This of course is just my opinion.

[Clive 1960]

Here in the Philippines i see plenty of water leaks and hardly any rain as in the UK where i lived but never hear of a drought or stand pipes like we used to have in the UK, makes you wonder..

[Claretitus]

Is it any wonder we are going to have a water shortage? No new reservoir built in the UK for 30 years, and the population has risen by probably 10-15 million in this time. Obviously, most of the time, we have plenty of rainfall to provide what we need, but a prolonged dry spell as we are having now, and it is panic stations. The privatisation of the water companies clearly hasn’t worked, with profits for shareholders, and obscene bonuses for the big wigs taking precedence over services, and investment in infrastructure,whilst bills for customers rise at rates way beyond the rate of inflation. In short, it’s a national scandal.

[Steve1956]

We are running out of water fast up here in Scotland...who would have thought it eh?

[Claretitus]

I drove over the Woodhead pass from Hyde to Sheffield on Monday. All the reservoirs on there were looking very low.

[bobinho]

We’re based near Skipton. Yorkshire Water mentioned last evening a ban is not far away with us unless people use less and it rains very soon. They mentioned the good work that they have been doing, when the representative said ”we’ve managed to fix at least 15% of leaks I nearly fell over, even had it been 65% would in my eyes have been below what the tax payer expects. Our water rates have gone up again like most people’s throughout the country but the service is still well below what I’d expect it to be. This of course is just my opinion.

No it isn’t.

It’s also mine.

If the right amount of investment had been made at the right times instead of giving obscene bonuses to fat cats there would never be a need for hosepipe bans as the reservoirs would be properly stocked.

[GetIntoEm]

Imagine running out of water in a country where it rains consistently for 10 months of the year.

Mismanagement and hoodwinking. Nothing else

[Anonymous Claret]

We’re based near Skipton. Yorkshire Water mentioned last evening a ban is not far away with us unless people use less and it rains very soon. They mentioned the good work that they have been doing, when the representative said ”we’ve managed to fix at least 15% of leaks I nearly fell over, even had it been 65% would in my eyes have been below what the tax payer expects. Our water rates have gone up again like most people’s throughout the country but the service is still well below what I’d expect it to be. This of course is just my opinion.

I think it is an opinion shared by many.

My water rates have increased by approximately 50% in 2 years. In 2023 my rates were about £38.00 p/m. This year my new invoice is over £56.00 p/m.

It doesn't help that United Utilities have the monopoly and can more or less charge they want.

[Aclaret]

We are running out of water fast up here in Scotland...who would have thought it eh?

Put less in your Whisky Paul

[Bosscat]

Imagine running out of water in a country where it rains consistently for 10 months of the year.

Mismanagement and hoodwinking. Nothing else

But at least the shareholders get their dividends huh

[bobinho]

Put less in your Whisky Paul

If he’s watering the whisky, he’s bought the wrong whisky.

[ClaretOfMancunia]

Article from the met office here - looks like things will be become more unsettled towards the end of the month

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2025/ ... -rain-next

[AfloatinClaret]

The UK has - because of traditionally consistent/all season rainfall - a very low storage capacity. Over the last 30 years this has changed somewhat and the population has also increased substantially, despite which, since privatisation, the water companies have not built a single new reservoir (in the ten years preceding privatisation we built about thirty) In fact the number of reservoirs has actually reduced since privatisation as several holding reservoirs, especially in the south - the driest/most densely populated area of the country - have been drained/demolished and the land sold for residential housing development.

[Silkyskills1]

Imagine running out of water in a country where it rains consistently for 10 months of the year.

Mismanagement and hoodwinking. Nothing else

Mismanagement? almost certainly yes

Hoodwinking? difficult to disagree. Contingency plans in existence for all water companies but once a situation develops they sometimes appear to react in such a way it can seem they've not planned for anything.

10 months rain? Just not true. Without offering a specific % of the year for days we have rain there are more drier days than wet days in a calendar year.

[Clovius Boofus]

Is it any wonder we are going to have a water shortage? No new reservoir built in the UK for 30 years, and the population has risen by probably 10-15 million in this time.

Also filled in reservoirs and sold the land off for housing. They've been robbing the whole country for years and continue to do so. Not to mention the scandal of untreated sewage being dumped in our rivers and seas. They should be in jail, not living rich while troughing away at the profits.

[ŽižkovClaret]

Need to create more urban reservoirs in big subterranean tanks

[Steve1956]

Put less in your Whisky Paul

Water in Whisky?...give over

[Clovius Boofus]

This is a privatisation that should never have happened. Firstly, it's not like you can change your supplier, is it. There is no free market. What we have are regional monopolies. Secondly, they have taken our money for decades while doing the absolute minimum re infrastructure etc. Might as well sack Ofwat while we are at it - it's worse than worthless.

[Aclaret]

Water in Whisky?...give over

I agree....sacrilege to put anything in a Whisky.

[Rowls]

The UK is a very wet place.

[Clovius Boofus]

The UK is a very wet place.

It is. Also, I'm sure we've had record rainfall over the course of 2023/24. I know one thing, the country paths I use never dried up. Even in the summer months, parts of them were like quagmires.

[theboydonegood]

I believe i have an exceptional plan to mitigate this issue.

Damn up both ends of Darwen Valley creating a brand new reservoir. We can then sell said water to the southerners for vast amounts of cash and boost the pensions for Burnley based Pensioners.

Ok there may be an issue or 2 for a couple of local football clubs but you sometimes have to break a few eggs.

TBDG

[Rowls]

It is. Also, I'm sure we've had record rainfall over the course of 2023/24. I know one thing, the country paths I use never dried up. Even in the summer months, parts of them were like quagmires.

Obviously the lack of rain is a real concern for farmers etc, especially in the south of the country.

However, up here in Lancs and the north generally you only have to take a look at the lush green fields to realise that the ground was so saturated that it's only just starting to become a "problem" - even though we haven't had any rain of note for about 5 months now.

The BBC had to use stock footage from a few years ago to convey the message when they did a piece on the lack of rain the other night.

If it doesn't rain for another month or two it'll become more of a problem but for now I suggest everybody enjoy the nice weather.

[bfcmik]

The UK is a very wet place.

It really isn't. The amount of rainfall is less than 30" per year for most of England. Many states in Canada and the northern US, for example, see that much in 1 season! Friends in southern Indiana regularly see 5 inches of rain in a single day through winter and spring, the nearby Ohio River's annual flood event peaked at 51'4" above normal flow in April/May

[Colburn_Claret]

I did a walk from Haweswater last week and that's dropping quickly. We've had one overnight shower in the last 2 months, I haven't bothered planting anything in the garden because they would need constant watering to establish themselves.

As for leaks 15% of 100 isn't a lot, 15% of a 1000 is. It all depends how many leaks there are, and our systems must be very old. My main gripe with immigration, and with large families, is we live on a small island. It's already the most densely populated place in all of Europe. We have to think of the future and come up with a solution to our growing population.

[NL Claret]

I did a walk from Haweswater last week and that's dropping quickly. We've had one overnight shower in the last 2 months, I haven't bothered planting anything in the garden because they would need constant watering to establish themselves.

As for leaks 15% of 100 isn't a lot, 15% of a 1000 is. It all depends how many leaks there are, and our systems must be very old. My main gripe with immigration, and with large families, is we live on a small island. It's already the most densely populated place in all of Europe. We have to think of the future and come up with a solution to our growing population.

Yes, the UK population is growing, though at a modest rate. As of 2025, the total population is estimated to be **68,180,606**, reflecting a **0.32% increase** from 2024

[Rowls]

It really isn't. The amount of rainfall is less than 30" per year for most of England. Many states in Canada and the northern US, for example, see that much in 1 season! Friends in southern Indiana regularly see 5 inches of rain in a single day through winter and spring, the nearby Ohio River's annual flood event peaked at 51'4" above normal flow in April/May

I have to insist that the UK really is a very wet place. Obviously there are other places in the world that are wetter like, for an example that keeps things nice and clean, the oceans.

Yes, there are places with higher levels of rainfall but one of the few striking things about our temperate climate is just how mild it is - meaning we tend not to have many prolonged periods of dryness. Even when we do have prolonged periods of cold or hot, we tend to keep a humid atmosphere because of the mild temperature and the fact that the next rain cloud is blowing its way towards us.

But the main point about the UK being "a very wet place" is that it isn't the kind of place prone to droughts of lacking in water resources. Southern Europe, the Middle East, Africa - these places do struggle with water resources. India, which you mention as somewhere that has (in parts) much higher rainfall is much more at risk of water insecurity than we are.

Another factor in our favour is that we're an island nation. No geopolitical worries about our water for us. All we need to do is ensure we can store it effectively. The increase in population we've had in the past 20 years probably necessitates the building of a few new reservoirs but water security is far from being an existential threat to the country under any sane measure.

[CrosspoolClarets]

Warmer air holds more moisture so I feel confident with global warming that despite the occasional nice spell such as now, the UK will rename damp and miserable.

Put it this way, I’d rather we have weather like now than a typical May Bank Holiday downpour.

[Rowls]

I’d rather we have weather like now than a typical May Bank Holiday downpour.

Amen.

[exilecanada]

It really isn't. The amount of rainfall is less than 30" per year for most of England. Many states in Canada and the northern US, for example, see that much in 1 season! Friends in southern Indiana regularly see 5 inches of rain in a single day through winter and spring, the nearby Ohio River's annual flood event peaked at 51'4" above normal flow in April/May

For a kick off I’ll have you know In Canada we have no States, we have Provinces
As for rainfall: I live in a city in SW Ontario, it’s rare to see rain two days in a row here during spring to autumn, we do have heavy rainstorms during the summer months though. Lawn watering is heavily restricted, matter of fact you rarely see lawn watering anymore, most are baked out by late August. Doesn’t matter to me, I live in a condo. Out west in British Columbia is a totally different story, British type climate, lots of rain.

[JohnMac]

Even if plans were made for new reservoirs it will probably take 10 years of legal wrangling before ground is broken. How is HS2 getting on nowadays? It seems years since it was considered newsworthy.

[Claretitus]

Even if plans were made for new reservoirs it will probably take 10 years of legal wrangling before ground is broken. How is HS2 getting on nowadays? It seems years since it was considered newsworthy.

This exactly. But hey never mind, let our Victorian water catchments, and delivery systems carry on leaking and wasting water, whilst we spend billions on saving 10 minutes on a train journey from London to Birmingham. Just about sums this country up. It’s on its arse.