{"id":24430,"date":"2022-08-24T08:30:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T07:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/?p=24430"},"modified":"2023-02-07T12:41:45","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T12:41:45","slug":"drought-heavy-rain-serious-problem-for-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/research-blog\/2022\/08\/24\/drought-heavy-rain-serious-problem-for-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought: heavy rain now might be a serious problem for the UK\u2019s parched landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year, World Water Week (23 August \u2013 1 September) focuses on Seeing the Unseen: The Value of Water<\/a>. This article by Rob Thompson, Postdoctoral Research Scientist in Meteorology at the University of Reading, explains the impact which drought has on how the ground absorbs water.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Large areas of the UK have\u00a0officially<\/a>\u00a0entered a drought, as searing summer temperatures grip the European continent. We are currently seeing the introduction of hosepipe bans \u2013 a memory from my childhood, though rarely seen in the last two decades.<\/p>\n

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The conditions have left many farmers, gardeners and fire authorities praying for rain, with some publicly looking forward to the heavy showers forecast next week.<\/p>\n

But we should be careful what we wish for.<\/p>\n

Coupled with dry, baked soils which are particularly vulnerable to creating fast runoff, the heavy, localised downpours that accompany thunderstorms can cause flash flooding.<\/p>\n

Drought is caused by persistent drier-than-average conditions. The whole year to date has been dry across southern Britain. In Reading, we have recorded just two-thirds of the expected rainfall to this point of the year. If you based your calendar on average rainfall alone, you would still only be in mid-May.<\/p>\n

This has only worsened through the summer months. Parts of the UK experienced its driest July on record. The University of Reading\u2019s\u00a0Atmospheric Observatory<\/a>\u00a0recorded just 3.1 mm of rain throughout July in the region, while no rain has fallen in August so far.<\/p>\n

Other parts of England have seen even drier conditions. Rain has not fallen in\u00a0Odiham<\/a>, Hampshire, since June.<\/p>\n

But while this is unusual, dry weather is becoming increasingly common in the UK. Last year\u2019s relatively dry autumn and winter are testament to this. A single rain-free month does not make a drought.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s water system relies on autumn and winter rains to replenish reservoirs that become depleted during periods of peak demand in the summer. So the sustained period of low annual rainfall has exacerbated the impact on river and reservoir water levels this year.<\/p>\n

The current situation has not just been caused by a lack of rain however. This summer has been hot \u2013 really hot at times. The UK broke its temperature record, exceeding 39\u00b0C for the first time, only to be broken again on the same day, as temperatures passed 40\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

Such extreme heat has greatly amplified the impact of reduced rainfall. Water use and evaporation rates are up. Not only are we receiving less water, we are both using and losing more too.<\/p>\n

How will it end?<\/h3>\n

In much of the UK, the ground is currently parched, compacted and the surface grass is mostly dead.<\/p>\n

Counterintuitively, in an effect well known to gardeners, it is difficult for parched ground to absorb water. Dry, cracked soils repel water rather than letting it soak in as wet soil would. This means rain pools on the surface and runoff rates increase \u2013 leading to a greater risk of flash flooding.<\/p>\n

While admittedly science doesn\u2019t tend to operate on a sample size of one, with a setup of plastic cups on social media, the following video clearly demonstrates the inability of dry ground to absorb water effectively.<\/p>\n