The UK is just a fortnight away from a water crisis, according to a report from the Environment Agency.
Many parts of England have had the lowest rainfall since records began in 1873 and two inches is in needed in the next fortnight to avert emergency measures.
Ian Barker, the head of water resources at the Environment Agency, said river flows in Wales and the West Country are one-fifth of the levels expected for October.
Peter Kendall, of the NFU, expressed concern at the news. He said: “Growers are well used to dealing with the UK's changeable weather, but recent conditions have certainly been exceptional. A prolonged period of rain is now desperately needed.”
Southern England has had its driest spell for 30 years and the South East has not seen such a long dry period since 1921, with just 60 per cent of the average rainfall.
Thames Water, which supplies an area stretching across from the Severn estuary through the Thames Valley and London to Kent, is 90 per cent down on a normal October, with Wiltshire and Oxfordshire worst affected.
