Scotland has too little rain? In May!? That seems a bit strange – Scotsman comment

Wildfire and early water-scarcity warnings have been issued for several parts of the country

“I'm only happy when it rains,” sang Edinburgh-born singer Shirley Manson of the band Garbage. If that truly was the case, then she would have been well advised to move to Wester Ross, famed as one of the wettest places in Europe and home to part of “Scotland’s rainforest”. Or, at least, she would have been until fairly recently.

An early warning of water scarcity has been issued for the area around Loch Maree, with businesses that take water from rivers and other natural water sources advised to start thinking about cutting back, so that possible restrictions in the future don't need to be so severe.

The warning also applies to much of the rest of northern Scotland, including the Western Isles, and parts of southern and central Scotland. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency warned that “very little to no rainfall” was forecast across the country over the next few days. There’s also a “very high” risk of wildfires in some places.

Scotland with not enough rain? And it’s not even June? Songwriters may soon find themselves thinking of rather different metaphors.

The area around Loch Maree, near Ullapool, pictured in 2009, is not usually subject to concerns about water scarcity (Picture: Getty Images)