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Justin Tallis / AFP - Getty Images
A wooden branch lies in the dry mud at the bank of the half-full Bewl Water reservoir in the English county of Kent on Thursday. Charlie Powell, a meteorologist at the U.K.'s Met Office, told msnbc.com there was no sign of an imminent downpour over England's drought-affected areas.
London has an undeserved reputation as a rainy city, with “things to do” when the U.K. capital is wet a popular topic of conversation among tourists.
But this year could see that image shattered in dramatic fashion, with much of southeast England gripped by a serious drought currently affecting about 20 million people.
Restrictions on the use of water were imposed Thursday from the southeast coast to the River Humber in the north and almost as far west as Wales.
By the time the Olympics comes to London in July, further controls could be introduced that will prevent aircraft, London’s famous double-decker buses and other vehicles from being washed. Other restrictions are also likely.
Brits revel in gloom ahead of London Olympics
Those arriving for the greatest show on Earth, may find a parched, somewhat grubby city. The event itself, however, will be exempt, so rest assured there will be water in the diving pool, the rowers will not in find themselves marooned and the smiles of the synchronized swimmers will remain fixed.
Driest 2-year period since 1884
In an attempt to prevent the situation getting worse, seven English water companies imposed a so-called "hosepipe ban" Thursday – mainly designed to reduce the amount of water used in people's yards -- and urged people to cut back on water use by, for example, reducing time spent in the shower to just four minutes.
The last time there was so little rain in the U.K. King George V reigned, the BBC launched its radio service and Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor had hit records. The year was 1922, and the last year and a half has had less rainfall since then. ITN's Lewis Vaughan Jones reports.
Ignoring the ban could result in a fine of more than $1,500.
“We have now received below-average rainfall across our region for 20 of the past 25 months, making it the driest two-year period since records began in 1884,” Martin Baggs, chief executive of Thames Water, said in a statement.
“Imposing restrictions on the use of [hoses], although regrettable, is the most sensible and responsible next step in encouraging everyone to use less water so we can maintain supplies for as long as it stays dry, and reduce the risk of more serious restrictions later in the year,” he added.
Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Walkers make their way around the banks of Bewl Water reservoir Monday.
Hilary Murgatroyd, a spokeswoman for Thames Water, which supplies London and surrounding areas, said if the hosepipe ban did not produce the required effect, companies could decide to implement a more Draconian measure: the “drought order.”
This would mean that cleaning of aircraft and public transport vehicles would be prohibited, apart from “washing require for health and safety reasons,” she told msnbc.com.
“It [a drought order] is something that we’re considering, but it will be dependent on the reduction we see over the next couple of weeks and what the weather does, what rainfall we get,” Murgatroyd added.
Despite its wet reputation, London gets about 23 or 24 inches of rain a year; New York City regularly gets twice that amount.
'Nothing too torrential'
Charlie Powell, a meteorologist at the U.K.’s Met Office, told msnbc.com there was no sign of an imminent downpour over the drought-affected areas.
He said that little rain was expected to fall over the next few days although about 0.4 inches was expected Monday “in a few places.”
“Nothing too torrential. Anything is better than nothing at this stage, but no significant, prolonged rainfall,” Powell said.
'Meterological March Madness' mostly random
He said that March had been particularly dry with much of the U.K. as a whole receiving less than half the average rainfall for that month.
This came after a winter that saw eastern Scotland and south and eastern England receive about 75 percent of average rainfall, while northern Ireland and the north and west of Scotland was particularly wet with 120 percent.
Floods in Fiji finally recede after leaving 5 dead
One regularly mooted solution to drought in the south is pipe water from Scotland, which usually has plenty to spare.
But Murgatroyd said this was not a “practical” option: water is heavy and therefore expensive to move and also has a different chemical makeup in different places due to the type of rock and treatments used to make it drinkable that could cause problems in the pipes, such as corrosion.
Warmest March on record for dozens of cities
Last month, saw a desalination plant open in East London, which will take sea water from the Thames Estuary and turn it into enough water for a million people.
But the question remains, will British people pull together, let their prized hydrangeas wilt in the sun and put up with being slightly less well washed?
One indicator could be how willing people are to report neighbors who break the hose ban to authorities.
According a non-scientific poll in The Guardian newspaper at 10:50 a.m. ET, more than 70 percent would not.
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Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
In before the global warming addicts.
That earthquake in Japan? Global warming.
I'd tell the people affected by the drought to hang on to the umbrellas. It will rain sooner or later. I remember one English drought where the Thames was all but dried up.
It's climate change. Not global warming. And we're not addicts. We're realists. Now stick your head in the sand and go back to sleep.
And there you have it folks. It's called whatever politician is calling it at the time.
BTW, I never denied it. And the globe is warming. The climate is changing. Been doing so for billiions of years. Up and down, hot and cold. That's called being a realist. Lots of alarmists at the moment. Personally I'd rather have a warm globe than a cold one. Much easier to feed the population that's left.
Call it what you want. This could be sign of things to come. Whether man made/influenced/or not. We are woefully under prepared for a major catastrophe and our current short term, only think about the moment mentality is making it that much worse. No we don't need to a live in tents and move with the herds as the seasons change but going along eyes closed and hands over our ears isn't cutting it either. Time to break from the status quo and start being more responsible when it comes to taking care of our home (Earth) and using its resources more wisely. The fact is we pollute too much - land, air, water - of which those are all things that we need to live and we better start thinking a little more long about what we do before we act. I rather make some of those changes now and be proactive rather than reactive at the 11th hour if you ask me.
It is time
When I lived in England a decade ago, hosepipe bans were a fairly regular happening during the summer months. This is not unusual.
I dont know what to believe It just seems everything is coming to a head, population, planets lining up, religion haters, climate change, earthquakes. I like people, stars and planets, our planet, religion even earthquakes dont want to be part of one but I think their cool, I'll stay optimistic..It seems changes are happening more drastic" Im waiting for a big volcanic eruption that'ell make some changes..
I hope south England gets rain we need water to live.
Another clueless man influenced climate change denier spouting off with his 2nd grade science "education". (rolls eyes)
Add New England to that drought list. We had little if any snow all winter, not much rain either. We've had brush fires this spring. New England 9 times out of 10 is not a brush fire risk, especially in spring...aka mud season.
Yeah. We were supposed to be slammed with snow and frigid temps. Instead we had very little snow and very little cold weather. It was great.
Off topic but MSNBC is unlikely to cover this story.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/04/05/nunavut-government-study-the-polar-bear-population-is-not-in-crisis-as-people-believed/
http://env.gov.nu.ca/sites/default/files/foxe_basin_polar_bears_2012.pdf
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/healthy-polar-bear-count-confounds-doomsayers/article2392523/
Meh, bears come and go. If all the polar bears die off something else will come along and consume the energy sources they no longer exploit.
The real problem is there are far too many people in the world. And the politicians have all decided to throw controlling pollution out the window so they can concentrate on the changing climate that they can't possibly do anything about. They need to get back to eliminating pollution and that will take care of everything people are doing to ruin the planet.
Polar bear population has increased 5X since 1970.
These global warming/climate change (or what ever phrase is popular at the moment) people use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post...for support rather than illumination.
Jack, you're not very bright. Quite embarrassing yourself on this board.
Start the debate between those who will never admit that there is man-made global warming and those who will never admit that some of what is happening is part of a normal climactic cycle. As with most things, the truth is usually somewhere between the two extremes (and extremists).
Perhaps, but at least since the late 1970s, the measured oceanic and atmospheric warming correlates well with predictions based on greenhouse gas levels. Natural variations, such as solar and volcanic aerosols, have had a smaller and sometimes negative (cooling) influence in recent years ... see a 2011 NASA study: Earth's energy budget 'out of balance'.
Actually, there's no real debate. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 97% of climatologist claim that climate change and a warming trend is real and it is being driven by man. Only in the U.S. amongst its idiot population is there a "debate".
Invest now in desalinating processors on the coast to avoid any emergencies later.
Before everyone who knows nothing about it starts calling each other stupid, Google the word desalination and read about it....... Wikipedia offers a good summary. Desalination requires a gigantic input of power, usually electricity, which is usually generated by burning gas or coal. This increased demand will drive up the cost of electricity and all other sources of power. As power gets more expensive, so does desalinated water. And this is only useful near a source of water, usually the ocean, not the interior of a large country. So, while this might be a stopgap measure on the coast of England, it will not work everywhere. AND it is too expensive to use for irrigating crops. Meanwhile we are showing little concern for the contamination of ground water (think fracking for natural gas, etc.) But let the name-calling begin.......
With all the sun power around, you could certainly build steam power from solor that would turn salt water to steam, and then cool the steam back to regular water, and shovel the left behind salt into the ocean, thereby skipping the large use of deslination with electricity.
Why would you shovel salt back into the ocean when it is a product with value?
or better yet dwayne, we could use solar power to make a steam generator that will turn a rotor connected to an alternator that charge batteries, that then would run a battery powered generator, that could power a hydrogen fuel plant to make hydrogen that would power fuel cells with the end result that the emissions of the fuel cells would be water. oh hell, too much thinking, probably wont work.
It's to bad the whole country of England is not in a drought it's what they deserve. I will pray to the god of england to enlarge the drought to cover the whole country. What they need to do is start fracking for natural gas around Downing street and use this energy to start the desalination of the oceans water and if they run short of energy they could tap into the methane gas that comes from the government offices. The government could start R&D and find a way to grow fruits and vegetables using the oceans water this would keep them busy for hundreds of years.
What the hell do you have against the UK?
It only takes one of the 30% who will turn you in, to ruin your life. And in regards to moving water, isn't it funy that the US pipes water from the Missouri to western South Dakota for the reservations and all is well? California goes thru dry periods and inspite of Gov Brown "flush only when brown" mottos from the 70s, we all live.
I suppose i will be accused of contributing to this drought because i consume coal for electricity for my house, and oil and gas for my car. Problem is there is no definitive proof that humans more so than nature are the primary catalyst for this cycle of global warming. There are ice cores dating back millions of years showing the earth warming up much fast and hotter many times over compared to now. So as far as i can tell the evidence leans more towards nature rather than humans as the cause. If thats the case then reducing our quality of life wont stop or slow this down. The problem concerning water is that humans only live off of 1% of all the water that exists on earth, until we start using more there will never be enough for everyone.
What is going on in England about water,will hit the US since we had a dry & mild winter.Instead of waiting,why not ban the washing of vehicles now.Don't think it is a good idea about planes not getting a bath.Soon the USA will set up water restrictions also,Water water every where and not a drop to drink.(from the mariner),time to set up water desalting plants.One begins to wonder if the end is near on Dec.21,2012 I doubt it,but steps should be taken about the water,wars were fought over water.The Romans had the right G2 about water ...
Every year, parts of the USA has water restrictions. Areas in Northern NJ, for instance, have restrictions nearly every summer. We're a big country, and parts of it always have too much rain and parts have too little. You won't see a country-wide restriction, just as the restriction in England doesn't apply to the entire country.
so if you take a five minute shower you will be fined up to 1500
lol, m15 cannot figure things out.....
A lot of right wing Ditto Heads showing their ignorance...But that's nothing new..They watch the Hooter's Fox Network,Jersey Shore,The Simpsons,play video games into their 60's,have high divorce rates,go to church on Sundays but admits NASCAR is their real religion.....
I resent that. I love the Simpsons! It has no sacred cows. Not even the Fox Network.
Sorry that I offended you..Nothing personal...Funny....
moderator...
In the five and a half years that I have lived in N Fl, we have run a deficit every year. Last year we were 24" below normal, and last I saw we are a mere 4.5" below normal. The water table is quite low and so is the nearby river. This place is drying up quickly!