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UK suffers worst drought in over 100 years

"It is highly likely we will have a full hosepipe ban soon. Some of our boreholes are at record lows ... In fact, we are drier than Saudi Arabia in terms of what water we have available per person."

A spokesman for the UK's Sutton and East Surrey Water company

Bewl Water in Kent is southern Britain's largest reservoir but on Wednesday afternoon it was 36 percent full and had shrunk to just over half the size it should be at this time of year.

Its water level was 7.6m down on normal, its saucer sides were deeply cracked, and stumps of old oaks last seen in the great drought of 1976 poked through the dry mud.

Tony Lloyd, head ranger of Southern Water, admitted he was worried.

"This is the worst dry spell in over 100 years," he said.

"We desperately need rain. The land is like a sponge that has been squeezed dry. It is as bad or worse than 1976," Lloyd said.

"I do not know what happens if this drought goes on. We already have hosepipe bans, but if it is a dry summer then it could mean standpipes, drought orders, bans on non-essential use of water, restrictions on things like car washes," Lloyd added.

Britain, and the south-east especially, is desperate for water. Rainfall has been above average in only one of the past 14 months, and London and surrounding areas have barely seen any rain since November 2004.

Last year Tonbridge, a town to the south-east of London, got just 406mm -- less than Jerusalem and parts of Namibia and Somalia, two African nations known for their aridity.

If it does not rain well above the average over the next two months, says the UK Environment Agency, then millions of people, particularly in southern Britain, can expect serious water restrictions in the summer.

"A drought like this is not unheard of, but is very rare," said Professor Alan Jenkins, a director at the UK's Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

"This has built up over two years. We had a very dry winter last year, and it's been a desert [this winter]," he said.

"We needed an above-average winter rain to pull us through and it hasn't happened. We've not had two very dry winters in a row since 1933-34, since when there are many more people who use much more water.," Jenkins said.

"There's a 10 percent possibility that we'll get enough rain to avert problems. But there is a 20-25 per cent chance of a very serious drought developing, particularly in the south-east," he added.

The next two months are critical, say water companies, because from April through to October almost all rainfall in Britain is taken up by trees and plants or is evaporated, preventing the recharge of underground aquifers on which most companies increasingly depend.

Nearly 75 percent of the drinking water for south-east England comes from wells and boreholes.

"It is highly likely we will have a full hosepipe ban soon. Some of our boreholes are at record lows," said a spokesman for Sutton and East Surrey Water company which supplies water for 650,000 people in an area south of London.

"In fact, we are drier than Saudi Arabia in terms of what water we have available per person," he added.

River flows which should be at their highest point between January and March are now nearing historic lows, says the Centre for Hydrology and Ecology.

The River Thames is flowing at just over half its normal level and if the drought continues, scientists expect that trees will quickly become stressed, streams will dry up, and rivers will shrink. Fish and birdlife will also be seriously affected.

There is the additional possibility that empty aquifers will start to fill with sea water, rendering them unusable.
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