Reservoir levels had plunged by the start of July, United Utilities said

A hosepipe ban across the North West of England has been lifted after weeks of wet weather.

United Utilities imposed the ban on 9 July after the region’s driest start to a year since records began in 1929.

Despite a month in which parts of the region were hit by torrential rain and flash floods, Pennine reservoir levels remain below average.

But the water firm is shifting supplies from North Wales and Cumbria allowing it to lift the restrictions.

The prolonged dry spell at the beginning of 2010 resulted in reservoirs falling to less than half their capacity in some cases.

It meant up to seven million homes in parts of Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire were asked to save water just as their gardens were getting hit with heavy downpours.

Following significant July and August rainfall and water conservation efforts, United Utilities announced the end of restrictions on Thursday.

Richard Blackwell, United Utilities’ supply demand manager, thanked customers for their patience.

“Our key reservoirs in Cumbria and North Wales are now at the kind of levels we would expect for the time of year,” he said.

“Pennine reservoir levels remain below normal, with some still at very low levels, but we are now able to compensate for this shortfall by moving more water from Cumbria and North Wales using our integrated pipe network.

“Overall, the situation is much improved and the ban is no longer required to safeguard essential supplies.

“Although the ban is over, some of our reservoirs are still very low, so it’s important that people continue to do what they can to save water around the home and garden.”

The ban restricted the use of hosepipes or sprinklers for watering private gardens and washing private cars – but businesses were not affected.

United Utilities said its customers saved about of three billion litres (880 million gallons) of water during the ban.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-11018474

Farmers in Somerset are warning yields from this year's crops will be poor because there has been so little rain.

Farmers in Somerset are warning yields from this year’s crops will be poor because there has been so little rain.

The county has seen only four inches (10cm) of rain since April compared with May 2009 where there were five inches (12cm) in one month alone.

Mark Pope, who farms near Taunton, said: “Our yields are definitely going to be down on the last two years.

“We won’t know how much until we put the combine into the the field.”

Mr Pope, who is also the county’s National Farmers Union (NFU) spokesman, said his wheat crops were dry and cracked and the roots were just breaking off in the soil.

He said: “If we’d had some rain a fortnight ago that would have been the optimum. We want the sun to come out again – it’s much better if we can have a dry harvest now.

“If there is too much rain now the quality will go out of the crop.”

Jemma Cooper, from the BBC West weather team, said: “We’ve had the driest June for 80 years. We had some heavy showers during July which should have compensated for that a little bit.

“And with high pressure still dominating our weather we are not expecting any significant rainfall for the next week.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-10754029

Water levels in many reservoirs and lakes have plummeted in recent weeks

Lakes and reservoirs in West Cumbria have recovered following the deluge of rain over the past two weeks, water bosses have confirmed.

But United Utilities has warned a hosepipe ban will stay in force until the county gets “sustained” rainfall.

The company said the area’s key reservoirs of Ennerdale and Crummock were now full.

However, others across the Lake District and Pennines remain low after the driest seven months on record.

The temporary hosepipe ban covers parts of Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and some parts of Cheshire.

A spokesman for United Utilities said: “Ennerdale and Crummock – the key reservoirs supplying West Cumbria – are now full.

‘Sustained rainfall’

“Thirlmere and Haweswater reservoirs, in the Lake District have seen an 8% increase in water levels rising from 50% a week ago, to 58% by Sunday night.

“But, we are warning further sustained rainfall is required before all reservoirs fully recover.

“We’re monitoring reservoir levels on a daily basis and we will lift the hosepipe ban as soon as all reservoirs recover to normal.

“There is more rain forecasted for the region, and whilst not great for summer, is welcomed to bring the driest start to the year back into balance.”

The north west of England has only seen two-thirds the normal average rainfall since April, according to the company.

People have been warned that anyone found to be flouting the ban will be issued with a £1,000 fine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-10718948

Efforts are being made to protect plants and wildlife on the levels

After three wet summers, farmers on the Somerset Levels and Moors have welcomed the dry start to the summer this year.

It has allowed them to graze their livestock on the wetlands and enabled them to cut hay and fix ditches.

However, if the dry sunny weather continues, it could result in wetland birds struggling to find suitable feeding places at the edge of ditches.

It could also mean their chicks may perish as they can’t fly to places like the Severn Estuary to find food.

Although the dry start to the summer has been welcomed by farmers, who’ve been able to use the past few weeks to carry out maintenance work, there is a downside.

David Leach is the Living Landscapes Project Officer at Somerset Wildlife Trust.

The Living Landscapes project has been running for just over a year, where David has been mapping around 12.5 hectares of the levels and moors, in order to find out which areas are rich in wildlife and rare plant species.

“The most important species [on the levels] are the breeding waders, the birds with the long legs and long beaks, and they like wading round in wetlands,” said David.

“They stick their beaks into the soil and feed on invertebrates and grubs in the soil and the sort of place they like to feed are shallow wet pools, which you find in these wetland fields or at the edges of the ditches where there are shallow muddy bits.

“At this time of year they will have chicks with them and if the soil gets too dry to forage for food, those pools will dry out and the ditches lower so there’s no nice shallow wet edge.

“If that happens, the adults can find alternative feeding areas like the Severn Estuary but the chicks aren’t able to fly at the moment so a prolonged dry period can cause a failure in breeding.”

Although this hasn’t happened – because there has been a break in the sunshine with some much-needed rain – the wildlife trust is keeping a close eye on how the breeding population is coping.

Even for farmers, if the dry weather returns, it will cause a new set of problems. If the ditches dry out, it will lower the land, making it impossible to keep livestock, as they are used to fence them in.

In another part of the levels, at Westhay, efforts to protect peat land has reached an important milestone.

With funding through the Landfill Tax Scheme, a new wind pump has been installed at Westhay to keep a constant flow of water over the peat bogs.

“If you go back 700-800 years, there was a raised bog where peat built up over centuries, but over time it was drained for intensive farming or dug out as peat, so our problem is that our bit is still raised, but it’s difficult to keep wet, as there are a lot are holes in the ground and water on the raised bog drains off.”

Wildlife experts are now hoping that the new pump will keep the land wet and protect endangered plant species like sphagnum moss and the carnivorous sundew, whatever the weather.

“It’s a very delicate balance, getting the level of wetness right.

“We’re hoping that it will push back in the invading plants which like the drier conditions like the birch trees and the bracken and the bramble.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8822000/8822645.stm

LEGEND has it that if it rains on St Swithin's Day – July 15 – it will continue to rain for the next 40 days.

Well it certainly rained yesterday, giving parched lawns in the Bristol area a much-needed drink.

But no-one need worry that we are about to suffer torrential rain for the next month or so.

The Met Office has tested the veracity of the myth for 55 years and each time 40 days of similar weather did not follow what happened on July 15. This weekend is expected to be mainly dry and sunny.

While 40 days of rain would be some people’s worst nightmare, it would be great news for Bristol’s reservoirs after an exceptionally dry June.

It only rained on nine days last month, with a total of 30mm. The usual average for June in the city is 60mm.

The Met Office says the UK has experienced the driest six months for more than 80 years, caused by a lack of Atlantic weather systems, which usually bring bands of rain across the UK.

The dry conditions have led to low levels in reservoirs and pressure on water supplies in some parts of the country.

The recent rainfall has not boosted levels in Bristol Water’s reservoirs at all. They are now 72 per cent full on average, two per cent down on last week and two per cent lower than this time last year. Official figures show 356.8mm of rain fell in the first six months of the year, making the period the second driest for 100 years.

Locally, the soil moisture deficit (a measure of dryness) was about 80mm in May, twice the average, and was above 125 mm at the end of June. This means that showery summer rainfall will produce no inflow to the reservoirs unless it exceeds 100 mm per month.

Meanwhile, demand has risen steadily along with the temperatures, and has sometimes been running at over 300 million litres a day.

If the next few months follow the same pattern – and there is no forecast of prolonged substantial rainfall – the dry period could develop into a moderately severe drought.

A wetter-than-average winter will now be needed to restore the situation.

Bristol Water says there is no cause for real concern yet and no hosepipe bans are planned.

However, it is encouraging customers to use water sensibly and avoid waste.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/days-thanks/article-2422002-detail/article.html

Nearly half of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal could be closed as the north west struggles with its worst drought since 1929.

Nearly half of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal could be closed as the north west struggles with its worst drought since 1929.

British Waterways has announced that a 60-mile stretch will be shut from 2 August unless there is significant rainfall in the next two weeks.

The closure would run from Wigan in Greater Manchester to Gargrave in North Yorkshire.

It would affect up to 2,000 boat owners and several businesses.

Water supplies from the seven reservoirs that feed into the 127-mile long thoroughfare would be cut off.

The remainder of the canal would stay open for navigation, but there would be a restricted lock schedule to reduce the affect on neighbouring waterways.

A British Waterways spokesman said the closure would be a “highly unusual step” but the lack of rain and the unusually high temperatures left it with little choice.

‘Impact on wildlife’

Vince Moran, operations director for British Waterways, said: “We have been doing all we can over the last three months to conserve water levels within what is a popular and 200-year old working canal, and we would only close it as a last resort.

“However, our reservoirs are expected to have fallen to 10% of their capacity by the start of August, at which point we must close off the water supply so as to be better able to manage the impact on navigation and wildlife.

“We anticipate the restrictions continuing through the current drought but will reopen the canal as soon as sufficient water supplies become available.

“In the meantime we are contacting all affected customers, including boaters, hire boat companies and angling clubs and will do all we can to minimise the impact on them during this difficult period.”

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is Britain’s longest manmade waterway. It was used to carry coal, limestone, wool, cotton, grain and other farm produce.

It is now primarily used for leisure boating, walking, angling and cycling.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10622798