Spring Equinox: Drought Warning On First Day Of Season

First Day Of Spring.. And Another Drought Warning

Tuesday marks the end of winter and the first day of spring - but while Brits might be enjoy the warm weather, the dry conditions make a hosepipe ban all the more likely.

Even if May brings rain, the UK will still need to enforce a hosepipe ban throughout the summer, Leon Brown and the Weather Channel have predicted.

They said the lack of rain in January and February mean this summer could see a "serious drought."

"We really need several very wet months with double the normal precipitation to help replenish ground water. From May evapotranspiration significantly reduces the amount of rainfall soaking to the ground and reaching rivers," they said.

"How long a hosepipe ban remains in force will be up to the individual regions, but with reservoirs, ground water and rivers at or below 1976 levels in East Anglia and south east England it’ll take a significant and prolonged wet spell to replenish them and we don’t see a signal for this in the weather patterns.

"Even if May is wet it is still very likely that hosepipe bans will remain in force throughout the summer since much of the rainfall in the summer months is quickly taken up by plants and soon evaporates."

Still it's not all bad news. Take a look through our gallery of all the things we like about the warm weather.

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