Parts of UK will face drought in summer

The drought which hit parts of the UK this year could continue next summer if the country suffers a dry winter, the government has warned.

The warning came as South East Water, applied to the Environment Department for a drought order to help refill Ardingly Reservoir, where levels of usable water are now standing at just 12 per cent, to secure supplies for East and West Sussex.

Environment secretary Caroline Spelman said there was a high risk that parts of the country would “almost certainly be in drought next summer” without sustained rainfall in the winter to restore water levels hit by the extremely dry spring.

She warned that water companies and the public needed to plan now for a potential drought in 2012.

The Environment Agency said the south-east of England was at a high risk of drought due to continued low rainfall, while central, eastern and south-eastern England were unlikely to see a full recovery from drought conditions in 2012.

The warning comes after Anglian Water was given permission to refill two of its reservoirs by diverting water from rivers now in a bid to avoid hosepipe bans next year.