:00:15. > :00:20.Good evening, welcome to a special programme from Lincolnshire.
:00:20. > :00:24.Tonight, drought, of what drought? You cannot have failed to notice
:00:24. > :00:32.how wet it has been in the last few weeks. In Lincolnshire, it has
:00:32. > :00:37.broken records. Why is the Government refusing to rule out the
:00:37. > :00:43.use of sand by the? Of the have another dry winter, that is another
:00:43. > :00:47.drought. -- if we have another dry winter. Also tonight, leaking pipes,
:00:47. > :00:56.we are being told not to me bar taps running, but to the water
:00:56. > :01:03.companies need to clear up their act? And the lack of rain in Spain,
:01:03. > :01:13.can other countries teachers how to look after our precious water? --
:01:13. > :01:20.
:01:20. > :01:25.As you can see, from a very swollen river here in Lincoln, it has been
:01:25. > :01:29.a very wet April, the wettest on record. And yet Lincolnshire is
:01:29. > :01:34.still in a serious drought, with water restrictions that could last
:01:34. > :01:42.for months. How can it be when we have had so much rainfall, that we
:01:42. > :01:48.are so short of water? Yet another wet day in Lincolnshire, and she
:01:48. > :01:53.would be forgiven for thinking, why all of the fuss? And very wet April
:01:53. > :01:57.has broken records, and in fact, this is not lost on the people of
:01:57. > :02:02.Skegness, people in the midst of a water shortage. It is normally one
:02:02. > :02:05.of the driest places in the country getting as much rainfall as the
:02:06. > :02:11.Costa Brava in Spain, but the last month as felt more like Manchester
:02:11. > :02:14.than Barcelona off. Despite the last few weeks, it has been
:02:14. > :02:19.exceptionally dry here in Lincolnshire, and in the last two
:02:19. > :02:23.years, they were the driest on record going back to 1910, so quite
:02:23. > :02:29.notable. Normally, a winter rainfall replenished as the stocks
:02:29. > :02:35.and that has not happened in the last two years, and if there is
:02:35. > :02:39.another dry winter, it would be a very serious situation indeed. Can
:02:39. > :02:43.be blamed for this be laid at the door of climate change? I will have
:02:43. > :02:51.a special court cast at the end of the programme. -- a special
:02:51. > :02:55.forecast. And despite all the recent rain, water remains a scarce
:02:55. > :02:59.resource, and restrictions are in place with the local council lot
:02:59. > :03:04.being happy. They would like an exemption from the hosepipe ban as
:03:04. > :03:08.they have spent �600,000 on plants in an attempt to make the town at
:03:08. > :03:13.its best. But with a hosepipe ban now in place, all of these flowers
:03:13. > :03:21.will have to be watered by hand. The local authority says it is not
:03:21. > :03:24.just about the fate of these plants that of the local economy. Recent
:03:24. > :03:28.rain has meant that the flowers don't need watering, but in the
:03:28. > :03:34.summer, the council says doing it by hand would be a drain on
:03:34. > :03:39.resources. Fortunately, something else will not get done because of
:03:39. > :03:45.the watering. -- unfortunately. We cannot let these plants die.
:03:45. > :03:52.issue want Anglian Water to show more flexibility? -- did you want?
:03:52. > :03:55.Yes, we had been doing as much as we could to conserve water, and the
:03:55. > :03:58.worry for us is that this really important time when the new plans
:03:58. > :04:03.are going in, that is when we need to make sure that we can keep
:04:03. > :04:09.watering them. East Lindsey council is not alone in seeking relief.
:04:09. > :04:13.Some customers say the restrictions are too tough, especially when
:04:13. > :04:17.water leakage is such a big problem. The water companies have spent tens
:04:17. > :04:21.of millions of pounds on infrastructure and the pipes that
:04:21. > :04:28.bring water from boreholes and the rise of four to each home. But
:04:28. > :04:33.despite all of this, Anglian Water loses one fifth of its water to
:04:33. > :04:39.leaky pipes and the record in Yorkshire is worse with millions of
:04:39. > :04:43.gallons of water leaking away every year. This footage was shot in
:04:43. > :04:53.Boston before the drought restrictions went in place, but it
:04:53. > :04:53.
:04:53. > :04:57.shows the water companies still have a long way to go. Pipes may be
:04:57. > :05:02.part of the problem, but they are also part of the solution and deep
:05:02. > :05:06.in the Lincolnshire Wolds, something significant is happening.
:05:06. > :05:10.This piping is part of a �40 million infrastructure project and
:05:10. > :05:19.the aim is to pump water from the North to the drought-stricken South
:05:19. > :05:24.of the county. The pipeline will run for more than 40 miles from the
:05:24. > :05:30.reservoir to Boston. It is not the only major Anglian Water problem,
:05:30. > :05:34.there are also plans for a new reservoir near Lincoln. This is the
:05:34. > :05:38.kind a project they will have to do more in the future. It is about
:05:38. > :05:42.moving the watered down to where there is less of it down in Boston.
:05:42. > :05:47.We know that the town of Boston is growing and will need more water
:05:47. > :05:51.now than in the past. This money bet you were spending on the
:05:51. > :05:55.pipeline, would it be better to spend it on the leaking pipes?
:05:55. > :06:00.have to do both, that is why we are spending �40 million doing this and
:06:00. > :06:05.we spent �15 million on leakage last year and we do spend the same
:06:05. > :06:07.again next year. We fixed 30,000 leaks every year and it is very
:06:07. > :06:11.important and we know it is important for the customers, that
:06:11. > :06:16.is why we have an army of 300 people finding and fixing the
:06:16. > :06:21.leakage every day. We had a very wet month indeed, you can see how
:06:21. > :06:26.wet it is, surely this is having an impact on the drought? It has had a
:06:26. > :06:29.marginal effect, but we're coming off the back of two dry winters,
:06:30. > :06:34.the driest 18 months in many centuries, and it will take more
:06:34. > :06:42.than a few wet weeks to get us back to where we want to be. Anglian
:06:42. > :06:45.Water's customers are not the only ones feeling the pressure. There is
:06:45. > :06:52.the national reserve here, which this network of sand-dunes being
:06:52. > :06:58.back home of one of the barest animals and Britain. -- be the home.
:06:58. > :07:02.The star attraction is the natterjack toad. Its mating calls
:07:02. > :07:07.can be heard for miles away, bringing a slice of the tropics to
:07:07. > :07:13.Lincolnshire, but it is vulnerable to drought. They like the Open s
:07:13. > :07:18.and the shallowness of the water and they have got a shallow shelf
:07:18. > :07:28.in front of it. -- they like the open conditions. They enjoy the
:07:28. > :07:32.warm water to breed in out andon in there. They can come out and they
:07:32. > :07:37.needed to survive. If it is not just the Tote having a tough time,
:07:37. > :07:42.elsewhere on the coast, the breeding birds are vulnerable. --
:07:42. > :07:47.the told. These birds that breed on the small islands are at risk of
:07:47. > :07:54.having their chicks eaten by predators that no longer have water
:07:54. > :07:59.as a deterrent. Despite all of the recent rain, the domestic hosepipe
:07:59. > :08:04.ban in Lincolnshire continues, so how has industry been affected?
:08:04. > :08:09.Much of this land was turned over to the production of potatoes.
:08:09. > :08:14.every plate of chips that we consume, there is a heavy price to
:08:14. > :08:18.play in water consumption. -- price to pay. Cleaning gum of for the
:08:18. > :08:24.supermarket shelf uses a lot of water and the Branston potato
:08:24. > :08:28.plants be a Lincoln is currently recycling 80 % of the water that it
:08:28. > :08:33.users to make them acceptable for consumers. -- the plants near
:08:33. > :08:39.Lincoln. More than half a million tons of potatoes are grown in this
:08:39. > :08:48.part of the world, but each 2.5 kilogram bag of potatoes is the
:08:48. > :08:54.product of will be been's with the water. Farmers are stockpiling
:08:54. > :08:58.water. Now experts from Cranfield University have been working out
:08:58. > :09:02.the footprint water footprint of the data production. They are
:09:02. > :09:08.helping out with less water in the future, but if the drought
:09:08. > :09:13.continues, this landscape could see some major changes. After two dry
:09:13. > :09:16.winter would be in a very bad position this time next year. -- a
:09:16. > :09:22.third the dry winter. Farmers would have much more pressure on domestic
:09:22. > :09:26.water supply. There would be water restrictions early on and we would
:09:26. > :09:29.need to think very carefully about viability of growing this kind of
:09:29. > :09:33.crop in this part of the country. We might have to move to other
:09:33. > :09:39.parts of the country that are wetter and have more reliable
:09:39. > :09:44.rainfall. Another pipeline section goes into place. It will not be
:09:44. > :09:47.operational until next year, so it is certainly not an instant
:09:47. > :09:57.solution to the current drought. In the short term, we will all have to
:09:57. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:04.learn to use less water, while Coming up: Will there be more rain
:10:04. > :10:07.fall in the coming weeks? Or will this dry weather return? I will
:10:07. > :10:14.have a special extended weather forecast for Yorkshire and
:10:14. > :10:18.Lincolnshire later in the programme. And we had to sell their new rubra
:10:18. > :10:24.they know a thing or two about the drought. -- and Beagle 2 so there
:10:24. > :10:30.you rub Rev they know a little bit. What more can we learn from Europe
:10:30. > :10:33.about the drought? In the UK, where much more used to
:10:33. > :10:38.complaining about the rain and there has been a lot of it in the
:10:38. > :10:44.last few weeks. In Lincolnshire, we are still definitely in a drought.
:10:44. > :10:47.My whether colleague has taken a trip around the country to find out
:10:47. > :10:57.what on earth is happening to the weather. -- my weather Centre
:10:57. > :11:08.
:11:08. > :11:13.The Lake District is England's wettest place, and looking below,
:11:13. > :11:20.there were a drought is the last thing that comes to mind. There is
:11:20. > :11:23.rich land and the reservoirs with lots of water. But with all of this
:11:23. > :11:27.century it has an stop raining for the last few weeks, how come there
:11:27. > :11:31.is so much drought in England? -- it has not stopped raining. The Met
:11:31. > :11:35.Office is looking at this change in the climate and the first place
:11:35. > :11:39.they are looking at is the jet stream that carries the wet weather
:11:39. > :11:43.across the Atlantic. It has displaced further north and by the
:11:43. > :11:49.time the weather front pushes further south and east into parts
:11:49. > :11:52.of England, there is higher pressure, so they are not doing the
:11:52. > :11:58.job we want them to do which is to add a decent amount of rain on top
:11:58. > :12:02.of the water levels. At this time of year, we are competing with
:12:02. > :12:06.nature for water and everything has embarked on the spring growth. You
:12:06. > :12:09.do not get the green and pleasant land without it. But when
:12:09. > :12:13.everything is turning green around us and you see the river is filling
:12:13. > :12:19.up, what you do not see in some places in the country is even more
:12:19. > :12:27.important, and that is underground. And it is the water underground,
:12:27. > :12:34.not the rise of fours that supplies 75 % of the population of England.
:12:34. > :12:38.-- the wiser fors that supplies. I am visiting the National Geological
:12:38. > :12:42.Survey in Nottingham where they are constantly monitoring the level of
:12:42. > :12:47.groundwater in England and using information from thousands of four
:12:47. > :12:51.holes they have created an underground map of Britain.
:12:51. > :12:55.areas in green here, running a peerage and Lincolnshire carpenter
:12:55. > :13:05.Yorkshire, and in the south of Britain around the south-east, it
:13:05. > :13:11.is an important aquifer. -- running around Lincolnshire and up into
:13:11. > :13:15.Yorkshire. I ground water levels have remained normal in the north-
:13:15. > :13:19.west but as you move to the south- east, they drop by one third.
:13:19. > :13:24.the last couple of years, only four months have been significantly
:13:24. > :13:28.wetter than normal, including the April just gone which has delivered
:13:29. > :13:38.record rain. To really find out how low the ground water stocks are,
:13:39. > :13:41.
:13:41. > :13:44.last week I joined Andy Mackenzie This is the south Down's. Below me
:13:44. > :13:49.is the most important source of ground water, the chalk aquifer.
:13:49. > :13:54.Today, we'll find out how far we have to go down to find that water.
:13:54. > :13:59.The chalk aquifer is effectively a giant pressureised sponge full of
:13:59. > :14:04.water which the Victorians tapped with wells like this one. The water
:14:04. > :14:08.would normally be about 20 metres below ground level. This is the
:14:08. > :14:11.exciting bit. How far down are we? Any sign of that water? It is
:14:11. > :14:16.looking promising. I can see a reflection towards the bottom of
:14:16. > :14:22.the we will. We are only at about 30 metres below where with we
:14:22. > :14:27.started. We passed the point where we'd normally find the water and
:14:27. > :14:31.the camera keeps descending. interesting thing is you're seeing
:14:31. > :14:34.dry walls. If there was any recharge happening you'd see
:14:34. > :14:38.moisture. The walls would be glistening slightly and they are
:14:38. > :14:42.not. They are completely dry. even though it has been pouring
:14:42. > :14:48.with rain, that rain down here has not made a jot of difference yet?
:14:48. > :14:52.No, it hasn't. It would take weeks, probably months for the water to
:14:52. > :15:01.infiltrate. But it won't. It will be taken up by the plants. We're
:15:01. > :15:06.coming up to 34.4 feet. This is if? That's the surface of the water.
:15:06. > :15:11.How does it compare? We've 180 years of record. This is the fifth
:15:11. > :15:15.or sixth driest we've seen it in April. That's pretty low? That's
:15:15. > :15:20.pretty low. One dry winter in 1976 was followed
:15:20. > :15:23.by a very hot summer. Now we are saying, save water, we are going to
:15:23. > :15:26.need it. People were forced to queue in the streets to get water
:15:26. > :15:31.from standpipes. This drought is different. It is not hot and sunny.
:15:31. > :15:34.It has been pouring down with rain. Yet, we are being told we could be
:15:34. > :15:38.in drought until Christmas. No- one's saying all this rain we've
:15:38. > :15:44.been having is isn't making a difference. Of course it is. We've
:15:45. > :15:49.had one of our wettest aeps, the there's even about flooding. But
:15:49. > :15:55.many of us get our waters from the aquifers.
:15:55. > :16:00.What the Victorians started with wells was soon exploited on a much
:16:00. > :16:05.bigger scale. This is an aquifer operated by South East Water
:16:05. > :16:09.supplying 2.1 million customers from pumping stations like this one.
:16:09. > :16:14.Down there, that's the precious water. Just how low are the
:16:14. > :16:18.aquifers? We are in a very serious situation. Our underground aquifers
:16:18. > :16:21.are very, very low. We see the reservoirs and rivers, flying in
:16:21. > :16:26.high levels with the recent rainfall and think everything's OK.
:16:26. > :16:30.It is not the case. We are seeing all-time low levels. We have pumps
:16:30. > :16:36.lowered down to levels they've never been to before. All-time lows.
:16:36. > :16:40.So that means it is each worse than 1976? It is worse than 1976. It is
:16:40. > :16:46.far more widespread across the various regions. Our greatest fear
:16:46. > :16:51.is we have a third dry winter. The level of recharge in our ground
:16:51. > :16:54.water is a third lower than it should be after two dry winters in
:16:55. > :16:59.a row. We've come a long way from the Lake District. It seems we are
:16:59. > :17:04.even further from that soaking rain that's been falling above ground.
:17:04. > :17:14.But down here, it is winter rain that matters. And if we don't get
:17:14. > :17:21.
:17:21. > :17:24.enough next winter, then we are all So what options do we have if
:17:24. > :17:29.there's a third dry winter? Do the Government and water companies have
:17:29. > :17:39.a plan? David Whitely's been to a country used to life with little
:17:39. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:48.rain to find out how they cope with This church has stood here in this
:17:48. > :17:52.valley in northern Spain for more than 500 years. The thing is, I
:17:52. > :17:57.shouldn't even be here because this is a bottom of a reservoir. And
:17:57. > :18:01.that spire is usually submerged under thousands of tons of water.
:18:02. > :18:06.And the reason it's so dry is Spain is going through its worst drought
:18:06. > :18:10.for 70 years. Reservoirs are drying up and forest fires have been
:18:11. > :18:14.raging in other parts of the country. Look at the water line in
:18:15. > :18:18.this reservoir. It should be that high and look how low it is. Just
:18:18. > :18:24.below those trees is where the water should be. Incredible. So,
:18:25. > :18:30.can Spain give us a glimpse into an uncomfortable future? Four years
:18:30. > :18:37.ago, the situation got so bad the taps in Barcelona almost ran dry
:18:37. > :18:41.and the city was forced to ship in supplies from France. It is three-
:18:41. > :18:47.and-a-half million residents, like this family, have had to completely
:18:47. > :18:53.change their attitude towards water. I find it incredible something as
:18:53. > :18:57.simple as water had to be transported into Barcelona in
:18:57. > :19:02.tankers. What was that like? It is a first as far as I know. Luckily
:19:02. > :19:07.it never had to be carried through on a massive scale or for a very
:19:07. > :19:10.long time. But, before that, there really was a sensation it would not
:19:10. > :19:15.be easy. If the drought continued for much longer people would have
:19:15. > :19:20.to have water rations and it would be complicated. How have you
:19:20. > :19:24.adapted your lifestyle in the current climate? I think we took
:19:24. > :19:27.consciousness of how precious water is when we had that drought and we
:19:27. > :19:32.were about to have emergency measures. The children talk about
:19:32. > :19:37.it a lot in school. At first, they had an easier time adapting to
:19:37. > :19:41.turning the tap off all the time and would come and be the water
:19:41. > :19:44.police. Through simple measures such as turning off taps, having
:19:44. > :19:49.tiepltd showers and teaching water conservation in its schools,
:19:49. > :19:55.Barcelona is well on its way to becoming one of the world's leading
:19:55. > :19:59.cities in saving water. In. People here use just 107 litres a day
:19:59. > :20:04.compared to 150 litres a day in the UK. Across the city, they've also
:20:04. > :20:09.tried using water from showers to flush toilets as well as recycling
:20:09. > :20:15.the water in Barcelona's famous fount ace. This isn't the first and
:20:15. > :20:19.will not be the last time Barcelona faced drought. That experience four
:20:19. > :20:23.years ago forced everyone to change the way they think about water at
:20:23. > :20:30.every level. And this place was the answer. They
:20:30. > :20:35.built this massive desalination plant. It is the largest in Europe.
:20:35. > :20:39.By taking sea water from the Mediterranean, the plant can
:20:39. > :20:44.produce 180 million litres of fresh water every day. But, that's still
:20:44. > :20:49.only a fifth of the city's needs. So, it's used as a stop gap when
:20:49. > :20:54.the reservoirs are low. TRANSLATION: The system is much
:20:54. > :20:57.more secure because of this plant. But this is not total security. The
:20:57. > :21:06.plant allows us time to funk between rainy periods. If there is
:21:06. > :21:09.a drought, the plant can produce more. After building Europe's first
:21:09. > :21:13.desalination plant 40 years ago, Spain is now a world 450er in the
:21:13. > :21:18.technology. But it is not a perfect solution. The water produced here
:21:18. > :21:24.is very expensive. And the Barcelona plant uses enough energy
:21:24. > :21:29.to pow ear small town. -- power a small town.
:21:29. > :21:33.This is where we use most of our energy, for generating electricity
:21:33. > :21:38.in our power stations. Most of the rest, around 40% is used in our
:21:38. > :21:42.homes and gardens. But the trouble is, we use too much. More than many
:21:42. > :21:47.other developed countries. As head of water resources as Environment
:21:47. > :21:52.Agency, it is Trevor Bishop's job to try and find a solution. Is
:21:52. > :21:56.turning salt water into fresh water the answer? We've one big
:21:57. > :22:00.desalination plant near London. That will be really important for
:22:01. > :22:07.safeguarding water supplies for London. The likelihood of seeing
:22:07. > :22:11.more desalination plants is quite high but you don't want to rely on
:22:11. > :22:18.desalination. It is expensive and produces a lot of carbons. So not
:22:18. > :22:22.good for the environment. We are at a lovely set of locks. Can water
:22:22. > :22:25.companies transfer water to drier parts of the country?
:22:25. > :22:32.Victorians started transferring water around. It underpins much of
:22:32. > :22:35.the way we manage water resources. Manchester is supplied by water
:22:35. > :22:39.from the Lake District largely. Moving water around, greater
:22:39. > :22:42.connectivity within the country and networks will be part of the answer
:22:42. > :22:48.but not the whole answer. Are we talking about a National Grid of
:22:48. > :22:52.water? As far as electricity's concerned, if somewhere's
:22:52. > :22:57.generating electricity you don't get blackouts in other parts of the
:22:57. > :23:02.country. Why have restrictions in one part of the country and not
:23:02. > :23:07.another? We are not talking about it in the same way as we use
:23:07. > :23:11.electricity and gas. If you build a big main of water from the north to
:23:11. > :23:18.the south of England, you can have droughts in the north of England.
:23:18. > :23:22.You don't want to rely on dragging water around the country
:23:22. > :23:27.exclusively. What will happen if we have a third dry winter?
:23:27. > :23:31.Difficult to say. But we would be in a very bad place. We've never
:23:31. > :23:36.worked out the consequences of three dry winters in a row. We've
:23:36. > :23:40.never had three in a row. If you you'd be expecting measures to try
:23:40. > :23:43.and conserve water that would be quite dramatic. Standpipes in the
:23:43. > :23:48.streets. People's water supply would be cut off. They'd have to
:23:48. > :23:52.take buckets to those standpipes. We don't know the numbers of people
:23:52. > :23:58.involved but it could be tens of thousands easily. As far as I'm
:23:58. > :24:03.aware, there is no strategic national plan to deal with three
:24:03. > :24:09.dry winters in the a row. I'd like to be proven wrong. I don't know of
:24:09. > :24:13.a plan. I think our plan is based on hope that it rains. So, is there
:24:14. > :24:19.a strategy or not? Caroline Spellman is the Environment
:24:19. > :24:23.Secretary. We have contingency plan. Drought is a natural phenomenon. It
:24:23. > :24:26.can occur any time. We've seen this coming and have been planning for
:24:26. > :24:31.it. What we are putting in place now are the measures to dole with
:24:32. > :24:36.that. Things like the temporary restrictions on non-owe sepbgs uses
:24:36. > :24:40.of water in a domestic setting is something we plan to do in order to
:24:40. > :24:45.conserve water and make sure we don't have to move to more
:24:45. > :24:51.stringent restrictions later. 3.3 billion litres of water, a
:24:51. > :24:56.quarter of our water is lost every day. Should the targets be more
:24:56. > :24:59.stringent. Germany only lose 10% of their water. It is the economic
:24:59. > :25:03.regulator which sets these targets which it believes are a challenge
:25:03. > :25:07.for the industry to meet. Water companies are being pushed to
:25:07. > :25:13.connect up supplies across the country. Caroline Spellman says we
:25:13. > :25:19.need to think differently about the water we use. When you go to a dry
:25:19. > :25:24.country and explain in a country like ours we use drinking water for
:25:24. > :25:29.everything, we wash our clothes in drinking water, wash 7 with it,
:25:29. > :25:37.flush the loo, they are surprised by that. Can you guarantee if we
:25:37. > :25:42.get a third dry winter we don't -- won't have water rationing. Spanned
:25:42. > :25:47.pipes in the streets? It is far too early to tell yet whether we'll
:25:47. > :25:51.have the wet winter we do need. Whereas it is most unlikely we'd
:25:51. > :25:57.have standpipes this year, if we have another dry winter, that
:25:57. > :26:02.becomes more likely. Begin the recent heavy rain and
:26:02. > :26:05.floods in the UK, talk of standpipes may sound extraordinary.
:26:05. > :26:09.But as they've discovered here in Spain, the world is changing.
:26:09. > :26:14.Climate change and an expending population means demand for water
:26:14. > :26:19.is set to increase. Even if the rains do come this winter, pretty
:26:19. > :26:25.soon we'll all have to think of drinking water as the scars and
:26:25. > :26:29.precious natural resource it really Crucially, what's the weather
:26:29. > :26:32.forecast for the next week or so? There's been some lovely sunshine
:26:32. > :26:36.in Lincolnshire today. A welcome relief compared with, as we've
:26:36. > :26:39.heard in the programme, what's been a record-breaking April. At
:26:39. > :26:43.Cranwell in South Lincolnshire, they smashed their rainfall record.
:26:43. > :26:49.The data there goes back to the First World War. In Sheffield, it
:26:49. > :26:53.has been wettest April for at least 130 years. But, of course, the main
:26:53. > :26:58.point which needs stressing is all this rainfall comes off the back of
:26:58. > :27:02.what's been the driest 18 month-two year period since records began in
:27:02. > :27:05.1910. That's been the cause of the current drought in Lincolnshire and
:27:05. > :27:10.across southern and eastern parts of the country. One of the common
:27:10. > :27:15.questions I keep getting asked is can the plaim for this be layed at
:27:15. > :27:19.the door of climate change? Well, on closer inspection of climate
:27:19. > :27:24.projections, they suggest winters will become milder and wetter and
:27:24. > :27:28.summers become drier and hotter, which is, in fact, the exact
:27:28. > :27:33.opposite of what we've had. It is the dry winters which have caused
:27:33. > :27:38.this drought. So, is climate change to blame? I suspect it is highly
:27:38. > :27:42.unlikely. Anyway, let's have a look unlikely. Anyway, let's have a look
:27:42. > :27:46.at the early part of May. It looks quite unsettled. On
:27:47. > :27:51.Friday's chart, a cold front pushing down from the north. Behind
:27:52. > :27:56.it, a little ridge of high pressure suggests things will become drier
:27:56. > :28:01.and a bit more settled. Let's look at the forecast, Thursday, tomorrow,
:28:01. > :28:05.there is a risk of so far rain in more southern parts of our region.
:28:05. > :28:09.Perhaps further north it is mostly dry. Some rain for all of us for a
:28:09. > :28:14.time on Friday. The weekend looking a little better. One or two showers
:28:14. > :28:17.around but also some sunshine and, I think, for most a fair amount of
:28:18. > :28:22.dry weather at the weekend. On Monday, a risk of some rain pushing
:28:22. > :28:26.up from the south-west. What about after Monday for the rest of next
:28:26. > :28:30.week? There's a lot of uncertain ity. It looks as though, after an