Drought puts trout at risk as rivers are left bone dry

Farmers also struggling in ‘worst of all possible worlds’ as lack of rain and unseasonal cold hit crops

BRITAIN’S trout population is “on a knife edge” as weeks of dry weather drains rivers to historic low levels, environmentalists have warned.

The species was already faring badly due to the poor state of many UK rivers, but the early spring and driest winter in 20 years now threatens to devastate numbers across the country.

The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) yesterday said parched rivers also posed a danger to other muchloved wildlife, including kingfishers, wading birds and water voles.

The warning came as the Environment Agency revealed four out of five rivers are at “abnormally low” levels for the time of year. Many, including in what is usually the wettest inhabited spot in England, Seathwaite in Cumbria, have been left “bone dry”.

“Rivers are at extremely low levels at the moment and that has a big impact for brown trout – they’re not doing well,” said Kathy Hughes, a freshwater specialist at WWF. “Then a drought comes along and it knocks them out.”

Data from 2016 showed just 14 per cent of rivers in the UK are considered healthy, and surveys have revealed that trout are currently found in fewer than 40 per cent of the chalk rivers they would be expected to inhabit.

The lack of rain has raised fears of a drought.

Last week home owners were warned to cut back on the amount of water they consume by only using their dishwashers and washing machines when fully loaded.

Meanwhile firefighters reported battling more than 500 gorse fires in a single week, many of them started deliberately but made harder to control by the dry conditions.

Arable farmers are particularly struggling, with crop producers describing the combination of the dry patch with cold weather as the “worst of all possible worlds”.

Jack Ward, the chief executive of the British Growers Association, said: “It is getting concerning to have this amount of dry with this amount of cold. “Things just don’t grow.” Major crops such as fresh peas, which are difficult to irrigate, are under threat.

Guy Smith, the vice president of the National Farmers Union, said: “The situation is patchy with farmers, particularly in the South and East, reporting as low as 10 per cent of their expected March and April rainfall.

“While decent rains in May and June will put many crops back on track, some crops like spring barley have clearly already lost their full potential.”