North Yorkshire farmers fear worst if hot and dry weather continues
We're hearing that some parts of England could be facing drought this summer
Farmers across North Yorkshire are growing increasingly concerned with the lack of rain.
We're hearing that some parts of England could be facing drought this summer.
Today (Tuesday, 26 July), the Environment Agency will be discussing potential water-saving measures, like hosepipe bans.
The country is not in widespread drought but most of England except for the North West has moved into a state of "prolonged dry weather", the step before drought is declared, raising the spectre of restrictions such as hosepipe bans.
Much of the country already has low river flows, affecting the quality and quantity of water, with impacts on farmers and other water users, as well as wildlife.
Low groundwater levels, dry soils and low reservoirs have also been seen following months of below average rainfall, and last week's record-breaking heatwave put extra pressure on water resources.
Yorkshire Water tell us that reservoirs in the region are currently running at only 62 per cent of their normal levels.
There are currently no restrictions such as hosepipe bans in place in England, but water companies are already urging people to save water in the face of the hot, dry weather, and localised bans are possible.
For farmers, August and September will be critical.
Keith Stones runs Nun Cote Nook Farm - a cattle farm in the Yorkshire Dales. He's concerned about the impact of the dry weather on his livestock:
"Since the end of April, it rained on the 7th June, three week on Thursday and then Saturday night - that's it - three times. But we've got the rest of July and August to go yet - another two months of summer.
"There is so so little vegetation - green, nutritious grass of any sort - for the sheep to graze on. There's quite a bit of ground to go at in our fields and the sheep do have a big stray to run at - but there is just no where left where there is any grass growing.
"It's having a big impact on the flock - for the ewes, they're not producing milk for the lambs - lambs are still needing milk and are still dependant on their mothers - so they're quite thin and are not growing as they should."
The last time drought was declared was in 2018.
Continued dry weather, similar to that seen in the last few months, could see another drought declared.
Forecasts are relatively uncertain after the settled weather this week, but Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said the trend appeared to be for drier weather in the South and wetter conditions in the North.
"The trend is the South will see the balance of the drier weather and the North will see the balance of the wetter weather, which is kind of what you would expect at this time of year.
"Even as you go to the middle part of August, on balance more persistent spells of rain will be across the North West, with the South seeing any rainfall in the form of showers or thunderstorms."