Still f laming June
Heat goes on as experts warn of ‘extreme’ risk of wildfires
cloudless blue skies for days on end are normally a rare sight in scotland, but the country is set for the driest June in nearly a decade.
Rainfall levels throughout the uK this month have been among their lowest on record since the 1920s, with some areas experiencing only 3 per cent of average rainfall.
As the warm spell continued yesterday, rail passengers faced further delays and cancellations A number of morning rushhour services were cancelled on the Glasgow to Barrhead and east Kilbride lines and urgent repairs delayed services on the Glasgow to oban and Mallaig lines.
scotRail soothed passengers’ frustration by handing out Fruit shoot drinks at Glasgow’s central station.
As low reservoir levels in Northern Ireland led to a hosepipe ban in some areas, scottish Water warned customers in parts of Moray and stornoway, lewis, to be sparing in their water usage.
Farmers reported that livestock have been hit by heat stress and experts have warned that wildfires present an ‘extreme’ risk in rural areas.
According to the Met office, it has been scotland’s driest June since 2010, with an average rainfall of only 2.78in (70.7mm) for the month. despite the long spell of dry weather, scottish Water said reservoir levels are at their ‘normal’ level in most areas.
A spokesman added: ‘scottish Water is managing water supplies across the country through this extended dry period and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
‘We have issued advice to customers to use water wisely in only two localised areas, parts of Moray and the stornoway area of lewis.
‘This is because of prolonged dry weather and lower than normal levels in the River spey, from which water in most of Moray is sourced, and lower than normal levels in a loch that supplies stornoway Water Treatment Works.’
Meanwhile, the National Farmers’ union (NFu) advised that at temperatures above 77F (25c) cattle can experience heat stress and crofters and farmers should ‘ensure livestock have clean water and shade. Note that some streams have dried up. severe heat stress has been reported’.
Newly-shorn sheep are particularly at risk, the NFu said, adding: ‘counter-intuitively, a thick fleece is not necessarily a bad thing as it helps regulate body temperature.’
on the risk of wildfires, the NFu warned: ‘A fire danger assessment has deemed the level of fire danger extreme for several parts of scotland and there is a high potential for extreme fire behaviour.
‘Members of the public should exercise caution throughout scotland over the weekend.’
scottish environment Protection Agency chief officer John Kenny said: ‘sepa officers will be touring parts of North-east and Northern scotland to provide expert advice on straightforward steps for farmers and others to reduce their use of water from rivers and lochs and help protect the vital ecosystems they support.’
Met office spokesman Grahame Madge said: ‘uK rainfall for the month is very, very low. In places we’re likely to see it being one of the driest Junes since the 1920s.
‘scotland has received about 80 per cent of the rainfall we would expect for an average June. stornoway has had around two-thirds of the rainfall we would expect in June, so it’s had 53.6mm (2.11in).’
Mr Madge added: ‘For Moray there has been 40 per cent of the average rainfall so far, around 30mm (1.18in). orkney has been very dry at 40 per cent and shetland at 44 per cent.’
The heatwave shows no sign of disappearing soon. Glasgow and the West of scotland will enjoy temperatures in the 80s going into next week.
Martin Bowles of the Met office said: ‘We define a heatwave when the temperature is five degrees above normal for five consecutive days. That has been the case in scotland, where we have recently seen temperatures higher than the fabled summer of 1976.’
Around 140,000 music fans are expected at the TRNsMT festival at Glasgow Green this weekend.
‘One of driest Junes since 1920s’