The Met Office has warned that while the UK will see showers over the coming days, the rain is 'not going to solve the drought situation overnight'. The warning comes as some areas prepare for their first meaningful rainfall for a long time, following a summer of heatwaves and dry weather that has left many regions facing water shortages.
In an online forecast, Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said Wednesday would be showery across the UK, with Northern Ireland and areas in western and central Scotland seeing 'frequent showers with heavy downpours, hail and thunder'. The showers would be 'fewer and further between' in southern areas, while central England and eastern Wales could still see some downpours, the forecaster added.
Rainfall 'Highly Variable' and 'Not a Huge Amount'
McGivern said: 'I suspect many people across England and Wales will at least enjoy the feel of some rain falling out of the sky during the next few days, but it's not going to solve the drought situation overnight because we're not expecting huge amounts and it will be highly variable because a lot of it will come in the form of showers.'
The Met Office noted that the rainfall would not be a 'huge amount' and would be 'highly hit and miss from place to place', before conditions become drier again over the weekend. On Wednesday, highs of 25C in London, 20C in Cardiff, 19C in Manchester and 16C in Glasgow are expected, according to the weather service.
Cooler Temperatures and Hosepipe Bans
Thursday will begin with some very heavy showers across parts of northern England and north and west Wales, with frequent showers in the southwest, McGivern said. Temperatures will be below average for a large part of the UK on Thursday, which is 'something we've seen on only a handful of days this summer,' the forecaster continued.
A hosepipe ban began for all of Wessex Water's 1.4 million customers across areas in Bath, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire on Tuesday. It is the first ban the company has put in place for 50 years, since the summer of 1976.
Thames Water Reports Demand Drop and Reservoir Levels
Meanwhile, Thames Water has urged its customers to continue to reduce water usage as it said household demand has fallen by 3% across London and more than 6% across the Thames Valley and home counties since it introduced a hosepipe ban on July 23. In an update on Tuesday, the utility said London reservoir storage was at 74%, which is lower than the firm would expect for this time of year, but the Farmoor Reservoir in Oxfordshire was 92% full.
According to the company, rainfall in the Thames catchment area during July was less than 1mm, which is just 2% of the long-term average, while customers used about 100 million litres more water every day than normal, putting more pressure on rivers, reservoirs and the water network. More than 27 million people across England have now had hosepipe use restricted in their area after months of hot and dry weather.
The cooler and wetter conditions come after the UK's fifth heatwave of the summer, during which the hottest day of the year was recorded in Kew Gardens, London, on Thursday when the temperature reached 38.1C.
