We have all heard about the hosepipe ban being enforced across the South of the UK in the last week.
The gardeners amongst us probably let out a sigh of relief when they heard that the Isle of Wight had escaped the ban.
However, judging by a report in the Telegraph this week, it might not be for long.
They’ve produced an excellent map (embedded below for your convenience) showing rainfall levels across the UK in the last month, last five months and last 17 months.
Under 40% of the long term average in the South East
It shows quite clearly that although we’ve escaped a hosepipe ban for the moment, the rainfall has been what the Environmental Agency call ‘exceptionally low’ over the last five months.
Here’s what they say in their February report,
Rainfall for February was just under 40% of the long term average in the South East. This comes on top of a prolonged period of low rainfall; 5 of the past 6 months and 10 of the past 17 months have had below average rainfall.
This month was the driest February since 1998 for South East Region, and the period from October 2010 to February 2012 has been the driest since 1922. Most of the precipitation during February fell as snow on the 4th which thawed gradually over the next 4 days. The winter so far has been the driest since 1992 with only slightly more than two thirds of the average rainfall for October to February.
