{"id":193473,"date":"2025-12-20T13:52:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T13:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/193473\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T13:52:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T13:52:09","slug":"rainfall-helps-west-country-recover-from-prolonged-dry-spell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/193473\/","title":{"rendered":"Rainfall helps West Country recover from prolonged dry spell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bea SwallowWest of England<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

England experienced the second driest six-month period (from March to August) since records began in 1871<\/p>\n

Recent heavy rainfall has pulled the west of England into “recovery” status following an extensive dry spell.<\/p>\n

Prolonged dry weather status \u2013 a precursor to drought \u2013 was announced on 10 July by the Environment Agency (EA) for its Wessex area, which includes Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and parts of south Gloucestershire. <\/p>\n

The warning followed the driest spring in a century and the hottest summer on record<\/a> – a combination which depleted water reserves and triggered hosepipe bans.<\/p>\n

Now the EA has revealed most of the West Country’s water situation is recovering, with Wiltshire to follow suit once groundwater levels recharge.<\/p>\n

\"PAPA Media<\/p>\n

A dry spring and summer exposed the parched lake bed at Chew Valley reservoir<\/p>\n

If below-average rainfall had continued, drought was expected<\/a> in the West Country next March.<\/p>\n

But in a dramatic turnaround, September saw 142% of the long-term average rainfall, followed by 128% in November and a similarly wet start to December.<\/p>\n

The EA confirmed “high river flows and the partial refilling of water company reservoirs are signs that the water situation is improving”. <\/p>\n

\"EnvironmentEnvironment Agency<\/p>\n

Parts of Wiltshire, indicated by the red outline, are to remain in prolonged dry weather status until the groundwater aquifer recharges<\/p>\n

However, groundwater levels in the chalk aquifer – a vast underground store of fresh water – below the upper Hampshire Avon in Wiltshire remain “exceptionally low”, the agency added.<\/p>\n

It said underground aquifers provide much of our drinking water, and these need to be replenished over several months.<\/p>\n

This area from Devizes down to Salisbury will remain in prolonged dry weather status until the aquifer is recharged.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ian Withers from the Environment Agency said consistent rainfall is still needed to prevent the water supply from “deteriorating” again<\/p>\n

Ian Withers, EA area director for Wessex, said: “The return of heavy rain has benefited the environment after a very dry period. <\/p>\n

“But there is no guarantee that sustained rainfall will continue. We still need a wet winter to prevent the water situation from deteriorating again.<\/p>\n

“The risk of flooding remains even during a drought. Stay alert, follow flood warning guidance and be ready to deploy any personal property protection,” he added.<\/p>\n

Reservoir levels for Wessex Water and Bristol Water, as of 15 December, were 94% and 77%, respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bea SwallowWest of England PA Media England experienced the second driest six-month period (from March to August) since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-193473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}