Flood Warnings – But no End to Drought

The Environment agency issued flood warnings across the South West, Midlands, North East and East of England as stong winds and heavy rain dominated the weekend weather.

Thousands of homes were left without electricity and more than 25 flood warnings were in place according to the BBC’s round up of flooding problems across the worst-affected regions.  Read the full report here.

Yet before the weekend began the Environment Agency repeated its concerns that the wet weather will do little to alleviate the drought conditions in its latest drought management briefing, warning that groundwater levels remain low.

Polly Chancellor, the Environment Agency’s National Drought Co-ordinator, said: “We’ve had a lot of rain this past week, which is a welcome boost for farmers and gardeners, and has delayed the need for water companies to apply for further
drought permits.  But with the dry soils most of this rain is either soaked up or, worse still, runs off quickly causing flooding, as we have seen in some areas this week. At the moment most of the rain is not reaching down far enough to top up groundwater, which is what we really need to make a difference to the drought. So it is still important that we all continue to use water wisely.”

It Never Rains..?  What drought and deluge means for surface water drainage.  Read Phil Collin’s Blog.