In locations that would ordinarily be covered in fields of greenery, the heatwave in Britain has left farmers with parched crops and large desert-like vistas, as the nation saw its driest July since 1935 and record-breaking 40°C temperatures.
Photographs taken near East Midlands Airport show patches of burnt grass around the countryside, raising worries about water shortages brought on by the region’s increasing temperatures.
For all of southern England and Wales, the Met Office has also increased the Fire Severity Index to exceptional, the highest level, coupled with an amber, as ‘lethally hot’ temperatures of 36C (97F) are expected this weekend.
Additionally, for seven weeks straight, the warning system has been at its second-highest level of alert, the longest period since 1976.
It happens at a time when some homes in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire are experiencing water shortages as a result of a pipe failure on Thursday and the drying up of the Stokenchurch Reservoir.
We need to “be more efficient” like the Germans and Danes, according to Thames Water’s strategy director, who admitted yesterday that roughly a quarter of all the water the company delivers leaks through holes.
It announced plans to impose a hosepipe restriction on 15 million users in London and the South East in the “coming few of weeks.”
A state of drought may be proclaimed, according to reports, therefore yesterday Environment Secretary George Eustice invited executives from water companies to address the water problem.
Yorkshire Water said that it was also thinking about enforcing a hosepipe ban. More than 32 million people in England and Wales would have their access to water restricted if hosepipe bans were implemented, according to sources at the Environment Agency.
Welsh Water, South East Water, Southern Water, and the Isle of Wight have all issued restrictions in Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire.
Thames was had to acknowledge that, despite wanting to outlaw hosepipes, it wastes more than 635 million litres of water daily.
According to Cathryn Ross, head of strategy and regulatory relations at Thames Water, “we’ll probably move to establish the hosepipe restriction in the next couple of weeks.”
She verified that leaks were commonplace across the Thames network.
The head of Natural England from 2014 to 2019, Andrew Sells, accused water corporations of selling house developers reservoirs that may have assisted with drought relief.
In the previous 30 years, exactly zero new reservoirs have been created by all of our water companies combined, he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
“Several of our water firms opted to build residences on some of their reservoirs, and this week we learnt that.”
No doubt some reservoirs had reached the end of their useful life, but by removing this infrastructure and leaving no alternatives in its place, they had once again prioritised short-term profits above long-term supplies.
In recent years, businesses including Thames Water, Severn Trent, and Southern Water have auctioned off abandoned reservoirs.
In the meanwhile, during the last several days, the water level in the Peak District’s Woodhead Reservoir has decreased.
As water utilities struggle to fulfil demand, pictures obtained at the Dernford Reservoir near Cambridgeshire also reveal low water levels.
The River Granta in the area is still running, albeit at far lower levels than typical.
The river was estimated to be just 5 cm deep last month, despite having previously been almost one metre deep.