02/05/2012

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:00:06. > :00:10.It is spring. The South West has just had a month's worth of rain in

:00:10. > :00:15.two days, and there are even been floods. But like large parts of the

:00:15. > :00:18.country we are officially in drought. Tonight, we have --

:00:18. > :00:23.investigate what is going on with our water.

:00:23. > :00:26.In the South West, water, water, everywhere, and plenty to drink.

:00:26. > :00:29.Sold by are those who depend on it so worried?

:00:30. > :00:34.The us is the worst situation I have known for 30 years, since I

:00:34. > :00:38.have been in business. What is the story with a our

:00:38. > :00:41.weather? How can a rainy country have a water court -- water

:00:41. > :00:47.shortage? What a drought? It has not stopped

:00:47. > :00:52.raining for the past few weeks! But that has still not replenished our

:00:52. > :00:56.underground water supplies. We check out the lack of rain in

:00:56. > :00:59.Spain. Can our Government get some tips from abroad?

:00:59. > :01:02.And I will be looking at some of And I will be looking at some of

:01:02. > :01:07.the facts and figures, as well as a full forecast later in the

:01:07. > :01:17.programme. I am Sam Smith, and welcome to a

:01:17. > :01:31.

:01:31. > :01:34.special Inside Out on the drive to. It seems crazy. Floods, rain, get

:01:34. > :01:38.it there is a water shortage. We it there is a water shortage. We

:01:38. > :01:42.are told at the problems could get worse, but in the South West there

:01:42. > :01:47.is no hosepipe ban. I have been investigating a very peculiar a

:01:47. > :01:54.tiny -- kind of drought. It is the wettest water shortage many can

:01:54. > :02:01.In the South West, April was the rainiest month in more than 100

:02:01. > :02:05.years. Many of the South West's reservoirs are fuller than this

:02:05. > :02:10.time last year, and our water companies say they are sure what --

:02:10. > :02:13.customers will not be rationed. We're confident there will not be a

:02:13. > :02:17.hosepipe ban this year. A what about next year?

:02:17. > :02:20.Well, it is a long time away but we hope to start at the reservoirs

:02:20. > :02:24.much fuller than they would be otherwise.

:02:24. > :02:30.So, why was a drought declared in the South West, and with the recent

:02:30. > :02:34.downpours why has it not been lifted? In our region it is not a

:02:34. > :02:39.water shortage for humans. It is a shortage for wildlife. And it is

:02:39. > :02:46.not over yet. Cast your mind back just two weeks when the evidence of

:02:46. > :02:49.an unusually dry 18 months was laid bare. That long-term whack of rain

:02:49. > :02:53.seriously depleted the water resource we cannot see, one that is

:02:53. > :02:57.underground. It is the one that Robert Smith relies on at his fish

:02:57. > :03:02.farm in Dorset. This is the worst situation I have known for 30 odd

:03:02. > :03:06.years, since I have been in business. Robert Stocks rivers and

:03:06. > :03:12.fishing lakes all over the South of England. He starts breeding two

:03:12. > :03:18.years in advance, and now he has thousands of fish ready to go. But

:03:18. > :03:19.orders are drying up. The problem is we have so many fish on the farm

:03:19. > :03:23.is we have so many fish on the farm ready to go to our clients, but

:03:23. > :03:29.they have been forewarned not to stock the Rovers because of the

:03:29. > :03:37.drought situation. We cannot sell our product, we have to hold the

:03:37. > :03:41.fish here. We of the main welfare issues is the potential suffocation.

:03:41. > :03:45.-- one of the mean. These are not ornamental fountains, they are a

:03:45. > :03:49.life support system to get oxygen into the fish. That would normally

:03:49. > :03:54.be done by the stream which runs through the farm, but it is at a

:03:54. > :04:01.third of its normal flow. Its source is not a man-made reservoir

:04:01. > :04:04.but a natural one, the local water bearing rocks. Two dry winters have

:04:04. > :04:10.depleted underground stores, leading not just the fish farm

:04:10. > :04:15.short of water but many of the local rivers and ponds.

:04:15. > :04:19.At this time of year, normally the water situation should be fine for

:04:19. > :04:23.the fish, but they are only experiencing a third of their floor

:04:23. > :04:27.at the moment. We're OK for the spring, but in summer it may be a

:04:27. > :04:31.different story. It is Ned April, and Robert is

:04:32. > :04:37.making some deliveries. -- mid- April. When these fish reach their

:04:37. > :04:43.new home they will need to let things to survive - oxygen and food.

:04:43. > :04:47.Low water levels can mean a shortage of both.

:04:48. > :04:53.This Laval, with its portable form of rock flight -- fragments, is an

:04:53. > :04:58.important food source for tried. But if the rivers they are living

:04:58. > :05:04.dry up, they die. Less water also means less dilution for any

:05:04. > :05:09.politics, like farm: goals. They can seep out of nearby fields. --

:05:09. > :05:12.like farm chemicals. Fish like the iconic salmon could

:05:12. > :05:16.also be affected because their journey upriver to spawn is

:05:16. > :05:21.triggered by fast flows. For predators like otters, struggling

:05:21. > :05:26.fish could provide easy pickings in the short term, but a long-term

:05:26. > :05:30.problem if too many fish die or failed to breed. Robert is worried

:05:30. > :05:33.things can only get worse. These fish should be OK once they

:05:33. > :05:39.establish themselves in the river now, but we don't know what is

:05:39. > :05:44.going to happen. Two weeks after we met Robert,

:05:45. > :05:49.heavy rain has transformed Dorset's rivers, but that is not enough to

:05:49. > :05:54.replenish the underground stores of water.

:05:54. > :06:00.We need continual, steady rain for months to get us back to a normal

:06:00. > :06:05.position. We have been -- seen the second driest 18 months in 100

:06:05. > :06:10.years, so we have to have months and months of steady rain.

:06:10. > :06:14.So, why do the South West's reservoirs tell a different story?

:06:14. > :06:19.Like this reservoir on Dartmoor, overflowing after the recent rain.

:06:19. > :06:24.The last drought was declared back in 1995 and it looked as you would

:06:24. > :06:27.expect. Our other reservoirs looked -- reached critical levels and

:06:27. > :06:31.there was a hosepipe ban that lasted a year.

:06:32. > :06:36.How come this time the region has so much water saved for a rainy

:06:36. > :06:40.day? For a start, we are using less.

:06:40. > :06:45.South West Water is supplying 15% what -- less water now than it did

:06:46. > :06:50.in 1985, and it has invested at being better able to cope with

:06:50. > :06:55.drought. The we have reduced leakage by 40 %.

:06:55. > :06:58.We have about 73 % of our customers on water meters, meaning they tend

:06:59. > :07:02.to think far more about their water usage.

:07:02. > :07:08.Stocks have also been boosted by schemes like this, which pump water

:07:08. > :07:13.out of the river ex into the local reservoir. That highlights an

:07:13. > :07:17.important point. At the end of the day, there will be more water

:07:17. > :07:22.flowing down our rivers and helping wildlife if we all used a bit less.

:07:22. > :07:24.For now that is up to you, because they will be no compulsory

:07:24. > :07:28.restrictions on householders in the South West while the water

:07:28. > :07:32.companies have plenty in the reservoirs as back-up. South West

:07:32. > :07:35.Water says its priority is safeguarding surprise, not the

:07:35. > :07:39.environment. Why isn't South West Water asking

:07:39. > :07:42.for a hosepipe ban to help with the general problem of a lack of water

:07:42. > :07:46.in the environment? We can only imposed a hosepipe ban

:07:46. > :07:50.if there is a concern about public water supplies. We cannot impose

:07:50. > :07:56.one because of the environment. There is obviously nothing to stop

:07:56. > :08:00.our customers doing their bit for the environment by using less water.

:08:00. > :08:03.Robert Smith agrees that everyone should play their part in making

:08:03. > :08:06.sure our environment and the creatures that rely on it are not

:08:06. > :08:11.left high and dry. Yes, there has been rain in the

:08:11. > :08:15.last couple of days, but that is a false picture. If you look at some

:08:15. > :08:20.of the Rivers now, particularly east of the country, the headwaters

:08:20. > :08:23.are bone dry, so there is a real issue for the next couple of months,

:08:23. > :08:27.and we may be in a serious situation later in the year.

:08:27. > :08:33.South West may be one of the best prepared regions in England to cope

:08:33. > :08:36.with a dry summer, but a third a dry winter and we could all be in

:08:36. > :08:40.not so deep water. The less be all use the other days,

:08:40. > :08:46.the less we are likely to struggle if the weather continues on its

:08:46. > :08:50.unusual course. Later we'll have a full weather

:08:50. > :08:55.forecast. David Whiteley heads to southern Europe, where they know a

:08:55. > :09:05.thing or two about drought. The Spanish are facing their worst

:09:05. > :09:08.

:09:08. > :09:12.drought for 70 years. What lessons We live in a country where

:09:12. > :09:18.complaining about the rain is a national pastime, yet we have this

:09:18. > :09:21.drought. Just how serious has it all become? We asked meteorologist

:09:21. > :09:26.Nik Miller to take a trip through England from the wettest to the

:09:27. > :09:36.driest areas, and on a few -- and on the way he has a few myths to

:09:37. > :09:47.

:09:47. > :09:51.The Lake District is England's wettest place, and looking below,

:09:51. > :09:56.though one that drought is the last thing that comes to mind. There is

:09:56. > :09:59.rain rich land, and the reservoirs with billions of litres of water.

:09:59. > :10:04.With all of this, on an island where it has not stopped raining

:10:04. > :10:07.for the past few weeks, how come so much of England is in trip -- is in

:10:07. > :10:12.drought? The Met offices now looking into

:10:12. > :10:15.what is behind this apparent change in our climate. The first place

:10:15. > :10:20.they are looking is the jet stream, but carries a rain bearing weather

:10:20. > :10:25.fronts across the Atlantic. It has tended to be displaced a bit

:10:25. > :10:28.further north. By the time the weather front are pushing into the

:10:28. > :10:33.country that is so short of rainfall, they are running into

:10:33. > :10:38.high pressure, so they are not producing a decent abide of rain

:10:38. > :10:41.and topping up the aquifers. At this time of year, we're

:10:41. > :10:45.competing with nature for water. Everything around us has embarked

:10:45. > :10:49.on spring growth. He did not get England's green and pleasant land

:10:49. > :10:53.without it. Whilst everything is turning green and you can see the

:10:53. > :10:57.rivers filling up, what you don't see in some parts of the country is

:10:57. > :11:02.even more important. And that is underground. And it is the water

:11:02. > :11:08.underground, not reservoirs, that supplies 75% of the most populated

:11:08. > :11:13.parts of England. 150 miles south- east of Windermere, I am in drought

:11:13. > :11:16.territory. Was pipe bands are in place in the East Midlands. I am

:11:16. > :11:19.visiting the National Geological Survey in Nottingham, where they

:11:20. > :11:23.are constantly monitoring the level of England's groundwater at using

:11:23. > :11:28.data from thousands of boreholes. They have created an Underground

:11:28. > :11:33.map of Britain. The areas that are in green here,

:11:33. > :11:37.the chalk, running in to Lincolnshire and into Yorkshire,

:11:37. > :11:41.around the south-east, it is a really important aquifer. That only

:11:41. > :11:44.gets recharged by rainfall in the winter, had we have had two

:11:44. > :11:49.relatively dry winters, so we have not had the recharge we would

:11:49. > :11:51.expect. Groundwater levels have remained

:11:52. > :11:57.normal in the north-west, but as you move south-east they have

:11:57. > :12:01.dropped in the volume by one-third. In the last couple tears, only four

:12:01. > :12:07.months have been significantly wetter than normal, including the

:12:07. > :12:11.April just gone, which delivered record rain. To really find out how

:12:11. > :12:21.low it our Greg water stocks are, I joined Andy Mackenzie and his team

:12:21. > :12:24.

:12:24. > :12:29.This is the South Downs, and it includes one of the most important

:12:29. > :12:35.sources of water, the aquifer. Today we are going to find out how

:12:35. > :12:42.far you have to go down to get water. It is a pressurised Spanish

:12:42. > :12:49.full of the water, which the Victorians attack with Wells. --

:12:49. > :12:54.attacked with Wells. The so is the exciting bit. -- This is the

:12:54. > :12:59.exciting bit. I can see our reflection in the bottom of the

:12:59. > :13:05.well. The four long, we have passed the point that we would normally --

:13:05. > :13:09.before long, we have passed the point we would normally find water,

:13:09. > :13:19.and the camera keeps rolling. there was any Recharge happening,

:13:19. > :13:24.you would probably see moister, and the walls would be listening.

:13:24. > :13:29.rain down here has not made a jot of difference. No, it has not. It

:13:29. > :13:38.would take weeks or months for the water to infiltrate. But it is not

:13:38. > :13:45.going to. We are just coming up to 34.4. We are very close. It is the

:13:45. > :13:53.surface of the water. We have got 180 years of record. This is the

:13:53. > :13:59.5th or 6th driest that we have seen in April. The last major drought

:13:59. > :14:05.was in 1976, when one dry winter was followed by a hot summer.

:14:05. > :14:10.People were forced to queue in the streets to get their water from

:14:10. > :14:15.hosepipes. But it has been pouring down with rain and we are being

:14:16. > :14:20.told we could be in drought until Christmas. No one is saying that

:14:20. > :14:24.all of this water is not making a difference. There has been flooding

:14:24. > :14:30.and it has been one of the wettest April. But the rain has not been

:14:30. > :14:35.reaching where we get our water from. What the Victorians started

:14:35. > :14:40.was soon expanded to exploit natural resources in the aquifer on

:14:40. > :14:47.a much larger scale. This aquifer is operated by South West Water and

:14:47. > :14:52.supports millions of customers. Down there, that is the precious

:14:52. > :14:59.water. Just how low are the Aqua first. It is a very serious

:14:59. > :15:06.situation. We see the reservoirs and rivers, we see them at high

:15:06. > :15:12.levels and think that everything is OK, but it is not the case. We have

:15:12. > :15:18.pumps down at lower levels they have never been down to. So this is

:15:18. > :15:24.even worse than 1976? Yes, and I think it is more widespread across

:15:24. > :15:29.the various regions. My greatest fear is a third dry winter.

:15:29. > :15:35.level of recharge in the ground water is a third lower than it

:15:35. > :15:38.would be after two dry winters in a row. We have come a long way from

:15:38. > :15:44.the Lake District. We are even further from the soaking rain that

:15:44. > :15:49.has been following above ground. But down here, it is a winter rain

:15:49. > :15:59.that matters, and if we do not get enough next winter, we are heading

:15:59. > :16:04.

:16:04. > :16:09.So what options do we have if there is a third dry winter? To the

:16:09. > :16:14.government and the is drought companies have a strategy in place?

:16:14. > :16:22.-- do the Government. Our next story starts in a part of the world

:16:22. > :16:27.that is used to life with little rain.

:16:27. > :16:31.This church has stood here in northern Spain for more than 500

:16:31. > :16:36.years. I should not even be able to be here, because this is the bottom

:16:36. > :16:41.of a reservoir. That spire is usually submerged under thousands

:16:41. > :16:47.of tons of water. And the reason it is so dry is because Spain is going

:16:48. > :16:56.to its worst drought for 70 years. Reservoirs are drying up and forced

:16:56. > :17:01.buyers have been raging. Just look at the water line. -- Forest fires

:17:01. > :17:07.have been raging. That is just incredible. Can Spain give us a

:17:07. > :17:12.glimpse into an uncomfortable future? Four years ago, the

:17:12. > :17:20.situation got so bad, the taps in Barcelona almost ran dry, and the

:17:20. > :17:24.City was forced to ship in surprise from France. -- supplies. The

:17:24. > :17:29.residents, like this family, have had to completely change their

:17:29. > :17:34.attitude towards water. It is incredible that something as simple

:17:34. > :17:40.as water had to be transported in Pancras in Barcelona. What was that

:17:40. > :17:45.like? -- in tankers. As far as I know, it never had to be carried

:17:45. > :17:49.through on a massive scale for a long time. But before that there

:17:49. > :17:55.was a sensation that it would not be easy. If the drought continued

:17:55. > :18:03.for much longer, there would have to be a water fashion. How have you

:18:03. > :18:08.adapted your lifestyle in the current climate? -- water ration.

:18:08. > :18:13.We have taken precautions. We have emergency measures. The children

:18:13. > :18:18.talk about it a lot in school. They had an easier time adapting to

:18:18. > :18:26.turning the tap off all of the time and being the water police. Simple

:18:26. > :18:30.measures, such as turning off police -- turning off taps, these

:18:30. > :18:36.are things being taught in schools, and Barcelona is now becoming a

:18:36. > :18:41.leading City in saving water. People here use just 107 litres per

:18:41. > :18:47.day, compared to 150 in the UK. Across the city, they have also

:18:47. > :18:52.tried using water from showers to flush toilets, as well as recycling

:18:52. > :18:58.the water in Barcelona's famous fountains. This is not the first

:18:58. > :19:03.time that Barcelona has faced drought. But an experience years

:19:03. > :19:13.ago has changed the way that people from the City think about water.

:19:13. > :19:18.This place was be a answer. They built this massive plant. It is the

:19:18. > :19:22.largest in the country. This plant can produce 180 million litres of

:19:22. > :19:29.fresh water every day. But that is still only a bit of the City's

:19:29. > :19:34.needs, so it is used as a stop gap when the reservoirs are low.

:19:35. > :19:43.system is much more Secure because of this plans but it is not total

:19:43. > :19:48.security. The plant allows its to function daring low periods. --

:19:48. > :19:54.during low periods. After a building the first plant 40 years

:19:54. > :19:58.ago, Spain is now the world leader in technology. But it is not a

:19:58. > :20:04.perfect solution. The water produced here is very expensive,

:20:04. > :20:10.and the plant in Barcelona uses the enough energy to power a small town.

:20:10. > :20:15.This is where we use most of our water, for generating electricity

:20:15. > :20:20.in our power stations. Most of the rest, around 40 %, is used in our

:20:20. > :20:27.homes and gardens, but we used to much, more than other developed

:20:27. > :20:33.countries. It is the job of this man from the Environment Agency to

:20:33. > :20:38.find a solution. Is turning salt water into fresh water the answer?

:20:38. > :20:42.We have one plant in London and it will be important. I think the

:20:42. > :20:47.likelihood of seeing more players like this and the next 50 years in

:20:47. > :20:54.England is quite high, but you do not want to rely on it. It is very

:20:54. > :20:59.expensive and it is not good for the environment. We can see these

:20:59. > :21:08.picturesque locks here in Wiltshire. Is it an option for water companies

:21:08. > :21:15.to transfer water to drier parts of the country? Yes. Manchester is

:21:15. > :21:20.supplied by water from the Lake District, for example. There could

:21:20. > :21:25.be greater connectivity and it could be part of the answer, but

:21:25. > :21:29.not the whole answer. Are we talking about a national grid of

:21:29. > :21:32.water? As far as electricity is concerned, if someone is a lecture

:21:32. > :21:41.at -- generating electricity, you do not get blackouts and the rest

:21:41. > :21:47.of the country. The shocker in the rest of the country. -- in the rest

:21:47. > :21:51.of the country. If you build a big mane of a water from the North of

:21:51. > :21:56.England to the south of England, you can have droughts in the North

:21:56. > :22:01.of England. You do not want to rely on moving water around exclusively.

:22:01. > :22:06.So if it has its problems, and we cannot rely on moving water, what

:22:06. > :22:11.will happen if we have a third dry winter? It is difficult to say, but

:22:11. > :22:15.it would be very bad. I do not think we have worked out the

:22:15. > :22:20.consequences of three dry winters in a row, but you would be

:22:20. > :22:23.expecting measures to try and conserve measure that would be --

:22:23. > :22:30.water that would be quite dramatic. What a supplies would be cut off

:22:30. > :22:37.and people would have to take containers down to the hosepipes.

:22:37. > :22:41.As far as I am a aware, there is no strategic national plan to deal

:22:41. > :22:46.with three dry winters in a row. would like to be proven wrong. I

:22:46. > :22:51.would like to think we have a plan but I do not know of one. I think a

:22:51. > :22:58.plan is based on hope that it rains and hope is a very poor strategy

:22:58. > :23:04.for dealing with such a risky thing. So is there a strategy or not?

:23:04. > :23:07.Respected the Environment Secretary. Yes, at -- we spoke to the

:23:07. > :23:11.Environment Secretary. Yes, because this can happen at any time. We

:23:11. > :23:20.have seen it coming and we have been planning for it and we are

:23:21. > :23:24.putting in place measures to plan for it. Using water in a domestic

:23:24. > :23:28.setting, conserving it, that is something that we are trying to do

:23:28. > :23:34.to make sure that we do not have to move to more stringent restrictions

:23:34. > :23:40.later. But one-quarter of our water is lost every day. Do you think

:23:40. > :23:49.that is acceptable? I think we need to encourage the water companies to

:23:49. > :23:56.reduce leakage. But should be targets be more stringent? It is

:23:56. > :23:59.the economic regulator that set the targets. The government is also

:23:59. > :24:04.pushing water companies to do more to connect supplies across the

:24:04. > :24:09.country. But Caroline Spelman says we need to think differently about

:24:09. > :24:13.the water that we use. When you go to a dry country and you explain to

:24:13. > :24:18.them that in a country like ours we used to drinking water for

:24:18. > :24:22.everything. We flush the loo with it and wash our close with it.

:24:22. > :24:27.Sometimes they will be quite surprised by that. Can you

:24:27. > :24:31.guarantee that if we get a third dry winter we will not have water

:24:31. > :24:36.rationing? I am not deluded into thinking that I can tell you how

:24:36. > :24:41.much rain we are going to get and it is far too early to tell yet

:24:41. > :24:48.whether we are going to have the wet weather we do need. Where it is

:24:48. > :24:57.most unlikely we would have that happen is if we have another dry

:24:57. > :25:07.winter. Given the recent floods and heavy rain, top of hosepipe bans

:25:07. > :25:11.seem extraordinary. But the world is changing. An expanding world

:25:11. > :25:17.means that pretty soon we will all have to start thinking of drinking

:25:17. > :25:23.water as the pressures and scarce resource that it is. -- precious

:25:23. > :25:27.and scarcer resource. Time now for her the weather story

:25:27. > :25:32.in the South West and a summary of in the South West and a summary of

:25:32. > :25:36.the forecast. Why has it been so dry? There are

:25:36. > :25:40.lots of reasons, but I suppose consistent lack of rainfall over

:25:40. > :25:46.the last few winters has made a huge difference. We have had quite

:25:46. > :25:52.a lot of dry around. The dry winters have contributed to it.

:25:52. > :25:58.Rainfall is not consistent. You could ask, is the weather we have

:25:58. > :26:02.had the wrong kind of rain? Heavy downpours in a short space of time

:26:02. > :26:07.often runs away quickly and disappears out to sea, whereas like

:26:07. > :26:17.rain is something that we need to see, especially at a time like this.

:26:17. > :26:24.March has been unusually dry. Maj 2012 has been the driest since 1953.

:26:24. > :26:29.-- March 2012. The wettest place in England was a risk come in Somerset.

:26:29. > :26:37.That rain has made a difference to our reservoirs. It is early, too

:26:37. > :26:43.early to tell. We are seeing some patchy rain over the next few days.

:26:43. > :26:46.A bit of clear skies over Britain now. We will find one weather front

:26:46. > :26:51.coming down from the north that will introduce some patchy rain

:26:51. > :26:55.from Thursday. Weather fronts close by on both Friday, Saturday and

:26:55. > :26:59.then eventually giving away on Sunday. Sunday looks like the

:26:59. > :27:05.better day of the two for the weekend, with a little rainfall for

:27:05. > :27:10.the early part of next week. We have some rain creeping in, and it

:27:10. > :27:16.could become quite heavy across Devon and Somerset. The South is

:27:16. > :27:19.not seeing a great deal of that weather. Temperatures will be

:27:19. > :27:24.between eight and ten degrees. There will be a lot of cloud for

:27:24. > :27:27.tomorrow but it should be largely dry. There might be a few splashes

:27:28. > :27:33.of rain here and there at temperatures could get up to 12

:27:33. > :27:37.degrees as a maximum figure. As for the rest of the week, Friday is a

:27:37. > :27:41.rather cloudy day. Most of the rain will be across the Channel Islands.

:27:41. > :27:48.A few showers will be possible elsewhere, with rain arriving late

:27:48. > :27:53.in the day. Saturday, patchy light rain and still a lot of cloud

:27:53. > :27:58.around, but much of it will peter out as we move into Sunday. The

:27:58. > :28:05.forecast is mainly dry but on the cool side, with temperatures around

:28:05. > :28:10.ten degrees. A summary of all that. There is some cloud and patchy rain

:28:10. > :28:17.until we get to Sunday, and then the high pressure will come back. A

:28:17. > :28:21.few showers dotted around on Friday. A more persistent rain on Sunday.