No end in sight to the hot, dry weather
WITH many of us sweltering at home under lockdown, this May is shaping up to be the driest on record in Wales for 124 years.
The current hot weather has seen only 14.3mm of rain since the month began - which is only 17% of what we’d normally expect to see this time of the year.
That makes it second only to the spring of 1896 when 7.3mm of rain fell.
And there’s no sign of that changing just yet, with temperatures around the mid-20s set to continue for a while.
“Things are looking pretty settled for Wales for the foreseeable future,” said Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge.
“We’ve seen 206 hours of sunshine this month, which is above average, and the hottest day so far has been Wednesday, May 27 at Hawarden in Flintshire, where the mercury got up to 26.4 degrees Celsius.
“The second warmest temperature was recorded at Llysdinam in Powys where it reached 25.2°C.”
He added that the warm dry weather looked set to hang around until the second week of June before giving way to more changeable conditions, although mid-to-late June could see more sunny spells.
But how long before we start talking about an impending hose pipe ban, the strain on water supplies having also been heightened by coronavirus restricting more people to their homes during the day?
Tracey Dunford, Lead Specialist Planner in Water Resources for Natural Resources Wales said it was still too early to tell.
“After an exceptionally wet start to the year we have had a dry spring so far,” she explained.
“River flows have been reducing as we would expect in response with this level of rainfall, leading to relatively low water levels for the time of year.
“We are monitoring the situation and reviewing our position regularly in line with our drought plan. We will update our webpages with any relevant information if it becomes necessary.”
She added that, ultimately, any decisions on temporary bans would be taken by Dwr Cymru Welsh Water.