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BBC News
14-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Dry spell leaves Scottish rivers on low level alert
More than half of Scotland's rivers have been placed under a low water alert following a long spell of dry Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said 23 areas surrounding major bodies of water including the Clyde, Dee, Firth of Forth and Firth of Tay were experiencing some level of water Council has urged those on private water supplies to use them responsibly due to lower than normal water comes as the UK as a whole experiences its driest spring conditions so far for 130 years. Just 80mm of rain has fallen over the entire spring recording Water said reservoir levels were running at about 81% of capacity – down 10% on the average for this time of year. Scotland marked its hottest day of the year on Tuesday, with temperatures of 25.5C recorded in South Ayrshire and began warning of water scarcity at the beginning of March after below-average rainfall last winter followed on from a particularly dry said it was not likely to rain in Scotland for the next seven Johnston, Sepa's senior manager in the water industry and rural economy, said that would lead to drier than normal ground conditions and decreased river said: "We have been warning since the start of spring that continued drier weather could disrupt agricultural activities, strain local water supplies and impact industries that depend on consistent water availability."Prolonged water scarcity can also impact local ecosystems, lower water quality and place additional pressure on native flora and fauna." Ms Johnston added that those who use water for business or agricultural purposes should "use it wisely" to avoid Sepa imposing said: "Several industries across Scotland rely on natural water resources, whether it's for food and drink production, hydropower or maintaining world famous golf courses. "The next few weeks and months are a crucial time of year for water demand and those who take water from our environment must manage it wisely, minimising the need for restrictions to be imposed."Highland Council said homes with private supplies should check for leaks or contamination include any properties without a Scottish Water mains local authority's environmental health team said those homes should boil water before drinking or using it if the supply is emergency scheme to provide bottled water is being set up, they Water said reservoir levels were down about 3% on last said they were monitoring water resources across the country. Are we heading for a record dry spring? With 18 days to go in the spring recording period, Scotland, and the UK as a whole, is on track to break a 132-year record for dry 80mm of rain has fallen this spring, making the 107.2mm that fell in 1893 look like a washout by last time spring was this dry in the UK, Queen Victoria was on the Scotland weather presenter Kirsteen MacDonald said conditions look to turn more unsettled towards the end of next week, with signs of a move to wetter, Atlantic-driven weather. Low levels of rain were predicted for parts of central and southern Scotland earlier in the week, but forecasters are now confident the country will not see any rain for the next seven in Fife could claim to be the driest place in the UK, the parched ground not seeing a drop of rain for 25 puts it about 499 years and 340 days away from reaching the record for parts of the Atacama Desert in Chile, the driest nonpolar region on Earth where rain is last thought to have fallen at some point in the 16th is unlikely Scotland will have to wait quite that long for the deluge to come, however the spring recording period ends on 31 May.
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Scotland marks hottest day of the year in long dry spell
Scotland has marked its hottest day of the year so far as temperatures in parts of the country rose above in South Ayrshire, and Tyndrum, in Stirlingshire, both recorded temperatures of 25.5C on beat the previous highest temperatures of the year on Monday by just 0.1C during the driest spring on record so far throughout the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said around half of the country was under a water scarcity alert. Forecasters have warned low levels of rain are ahead for large swathes of the country in coming rivers including the Clyde, Dee, Galloway and Nith are are subject to low water alerts. Sepa said the warm dry weather came off the back of a drier than normal winter and autumn last Johnson, Sepa's senior manager in water industry, said river levels were lower at this time in the season than in previous said the current alert meant people should be aware that water flows are beginning to "show some signs of pressure from the dry weather".Those who use water abstracts from rivers and lochs for business reasons should consider this before extracting it, she added. Ms Johnson told BBC Radio's Lunchtime Live: "We can restrict the amount of water that is taken but we would only do that when we've had really sustained dry periods and there are really low flows in the rivers."We've had below average rainfall throughout the winter and last autumn as well, and spring has been fairly dry."So we have come into the summer season with flows than we might expect to see. It has been very warm and dry."She added: "They are lower at this time in the season compared to other years." Will we ever see the rain? So is Scotland now a dry country, albeit in the weather sense?In Leuchars, Fife, it had not rained for 24 days as of Tuesday a whole, the UK is only running at 80mm of precipitation – making it the driest spring on record so Scotland weather presenter Kirsteen MacDonald said parts of the country were going into their fourth straight week without said "scarcely any" rain is forecast for the coming days, but some areas could see heavy showers over the weekend."High pressure will dominate our weather throughout the rest of this week and into the beginning of next week, resulting in settled conditions with lots of sunshine," she said."Temperatures will remain significantly above average for many too."By Sunday, we are likely to have some heavy, thundery showers break out in central and south western areas. "However, this is some way off in terms of forecasting, so the detail is subject to change."
