Drought Declared In The South East Of England
February 20, 2012
By Paul Homewood
The south east of England is now officially in a state of drought, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs admitted today. So how does the current situation compare to previous years?
Last year the South East, according to Met Office figures, received 637mm of rain. In the last 100 years there have been 7 years that were drier.
| Year | Rainfall mm | Rainfall mm Following January |
Total Rainfall Jan – Jan mm |
| 1921 | 406 | 97 | 503 |
| 1933 | 604 | 63 | 667 |
| 1947 | 633 | 132 | 765 |
| 1953 | 616 | 43 | 659 |
| 1973 | 559 | 108 | 667 |
| 1996 | 613 | 15 | 628 |
| 2005 | 612 | 23 | 635 |
| 2011 | 637 | 49 | 686 |
On average these sort of events are seen about every 10 years or so. Adding in the January 2012 numbers, it can be seen that 6 out of 7 of the previous years were still drier than now.
Meanwhile, the long term trend is slightly increasing.
It is just English weather. We had better get used to it.
5 Comments
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
The problem in E Kent is not so much the amount of water but overpopulation. Recent improvements in road and rail communications have turned the area into a dormitory for London as people seek an escape from the city. Local authorities have only £ signs in their eyes as they seek ever-more development and thus ever-more Council tax.
After the 76 droughts they were calling for a national water grid.
Now they are calling for one again.
Privatising water was never a good idea, profit comes before customer service.
Instead of spending £32bn on a highspeed railway to the Midlands which will benfit only a small percentage of the population, why not spend it on a water grid? Better still instead of paying wind farm operators for NOT generating electricity, use it to pump water, especially at night when demand is low? Caroline Spelman’s ridiculous observation that water is heavy illustrates the lack of imagination of the present regime
I have to agree with Grumpy old man
My own analysis suggests the problem does not seem to lie in the supply side:
http://www.brunnian.f2s.com/pictures/waddington%20stats.png
Seems to me that the water companies have been busking along, rather than investing to meet rising demand.
I can’t access the links, Bob.