How wet is your drought?

[Dave48]

Funny thing since hosepipe bans announced we seem to have had nothing but rain! Like most foccers I daresay I pay more attention to weather forecasts than perhaps car drivers. Was looking forward to a ride tomorrow but our lovely weather girl smilingly tells me to expect strong winds & torrential rain tomorrow!Our water in Birmingham comes from the Frankley reservoir that links by pipeline to Elan Valley reservoirs 75 miles away. Last summer the Welsh reservoirs were well down(June) & after another dry winter-I guess its going to take a lot more rainfall to fill them up.

[rustyrider]

I don't think it's stopped raining in Peterborough for about 4 days.  Just got soaked taking a 1957 Austin Healey with a tonneau cover but no hood) to have new tyres fitted and the bike isn't moving for the foreseeable future.

[Phil]

I've been to 3 race meeting this year, Brands, Thruxton BSB and Assen WSB. Chucked it down at all 3 at sometime over the weekend.
Up until the last few days it has been quite dry around Dorset for a while.

[Dave48]

Just had the pre Moto GP report from Yamaha Racing-practice marred by changeable weather wet to dry then wet. Would be nice to watch a dry race tomorrow. Thought the sun was always shining in Italy?

[mcyoungy]

I don't think it's stopped raining in Peterborough for about 4 days.  Just got soaked taking a 1957 Austin Healey with a tonneau cover but no hood) to have new tyres fitted and the bike isn't moving for the foreseeable future.

Absolutely. St Neots to Peterborough has been raining every bloody day. Heavy too with hail.

[Phil]

Just had the pre Moto GP report from Yamaha Racing-practice marred by changeable weather wet to dry then wet. Would be nice to watch a dry race tomorrow. Thought the sun was always shining in Italy?

Jerez is in Spain 


I noticed in March when we had al the nice weather in was wet in southern Spain.

[Dave48]

The water has obviously affected my brain! Geography lesson required.

[Grahamm]

The point about the drought is that rainfall has been *way* below average for the last 18 months to 2 years.

So whilst we may have had a month's worth in a few days, it would have to keep raiining like this all the way through May and halfway into June for water levels (reservoir and ground water) to start getting back to where they should be.

Unfortunately this seems to have escaped the tiny minds of idiots I see at the gym who turn the tap on full blast, wet their faces, add some shaving cream and then start shaving, all the while pouring a several gallons of water down the drain 

[rustyrider]

But it's mostly down to bad management.  When we do get any rain in appreciable quantities, they simply open the sluice gates and let it flow out to the sea.  A mate lives in the south of France and hardly gets any rain from April to October.  Do they have hosepipe bans?  No, the automatic sprinklers are on every day on the flower beds too.  Because the canals are used as huge water pipes to shift it from areas that do get rain as well as for barges to carry goods around.

[Phil]

I dont think its down to bad management, its down to our normal climate being so wet. We dont usually need to store water or shift it around the country. That may change, or it may not.

[Raymy]

What, in the name of feck, is a hosepipe ban??


You mofo's is talkin crazy talk

[dolau]

There is an online weather station in the town near us 22.6mm today (so far) 130mm this month- thats over 5" in old money and 11" so far this year and counting

[dolau]

Sorry- forgot to say- Llandrindod is about 10 miles from the Elan valley where your water comes from

The sign at the top of the dam says when they were built they measured 70" rainfall a year- which is why they flooded the lush farming valleys to give water to the slums of Birmingham

Nothing much chnges in 100 years does it- apart from our rainfall has reduced

[robby boy]

We have not had any rain here for the last two days, we had a good inch of snow on Friday tho.  It has rained every day here for the past 6 weeks and the "April showers" were more like monsoons.

[nakedadder]

No rain here in Derbyshire for a couple of hours today, and for most of yesterday, apart from that it's been pissing down since sometime last year, or so it seems 

[Hodge]

I do believe it has rained here every day in April.

[Dave48]

Last night local TV news was talking about rising water levels of River Severn-pity they cant divert some to east side of country! Re Dolaus point couldnt agree more-My city wouldnt have been able to have developed without Dwr Cymru! Love your part of Wales-the best biking roads in British Isles IMO. Hope to be over there in June. What about that ride up the head of the Elan valley to Aberystwyth via Devils Bridge-ah fond memories! Sun Scenery & Roads!

[MarchRide]

I think the water authorities should be fixing their own pipework and stop it leaking before they hosepipe ban us. Doubt we'd have a water shortage or drought if they did that.

[Captain Haddock]

I believe one of the issues with discharging flood water is the silt carried, our local reservoir (grafham water) has a pumping station from the local river but can't run in flood conditions due to the fact that it's running thick brown.
I am mean't to be taking my boat from gt.ouse in st.neots to the norfolk broads but not a chance at the moment, a week ago I was trying to work out the best time to do the tidal section at earith as they had too little water, now I'll be lucky to get under the town bridge.
Been to scotland over the weekend on the train and there was lots of standing water through notts and yorks.

[Grahamm]

I think the water authorities should be fixing their own pipework and stop it leaking before they hosepipe ban us.

Checking the figures, London alone has something like ten *thousand* miles of Victorian cast-iron pipework. Thames water have replaced 1,300 miles or so of it in the last five years.

At that rate, they'll have replaced it all by, oh, about 2050.

[pitternator]

nonetheless, we  have had droughts before, as far back as  in 1976..yet what extra storage / transportation systems have been developed since then...its insane to have a drought yet all this stormwater simply goes to waste....it wont be too long before the old adage will get trotted out ....
 
" well you see, the problem is...its the wrong kind of water " !   

[Grahamm]

what extra storage / transportation systems have been developed since then...

The problem is that such systems are very expensive and usually, eventually, there's enough rain for someone to say "well we don't need to spend the money", so nothing happens.

Having said that, Yorkshire have introduced such systems because the west gets all the rain whilst the east is in the rain-shadow of the Pennines and gets much less see for details.

[mcyoungy]

apparently the ground is too dried out and hard so the rain won't soak in and runs down the drains instead.


so shouldn't we be watering the ground to keep it soft instead of banning hosepipe use?

[bmseven]

Bloody Drought kept me awake last night

[snapper]

Pinched this from a mates Facebook says it all really
 
 "I went for a swim to take my mind off the terrible drought we're experiencing. I did 25 lengths of the back garden."               but bare in mind this is the same bloke that posted this as well    "The average bloke thinks about sex once every six tits."