Hosepipe ban to remain until end of the year

West Berkshire has been battered by high winds and torrential rain since Friday, with 27.5mm of rainfall on Monday alone, according to local weatherman Steve Kelly, who operates a weather station in Thatcham.
The Met Office has announced that Berkshire experienced it second wettest April since records began in 1910, with 136.6mm of rainfall, 272 per cent more than the average rainfall for April.
The inclement weather caused a number of road closures in the district, including Deans Copse Road, Theale, Headley Ford, Thornford Road, Crookham, and Shalford Bridge, between Wasing and Brimpton.
The Environment Agency flood alert for the River Thames from Pangbourne to Purley, and the Met Office’s severe weather warning for West Berkshire both remain in place, with more rain forecast today (Thursday).
Despite one of the wettest Aprils on record, Thames Water’s director of sustainability and external affairs, Richard Aylard says the rain has not repaired the shortfall left by below-average rainfall for 20 of the previous 26 months.
“We can certainly understand why some people are puzzled when they see a big red bus go by with ‘We are in drought’ emblazoned across its flanks, with puddles everywhere and monsoon-like rain cascading from the heavens.
“Yes, we have had a seriously soggy April. We had more than double the rain we would expect the last month. In fact, it hasn’t really stopped raining since we and six other companies imposed ‘hosepipe bans’ on April 5. We are alive to this irony, and our contribution to the endless talking point that is the British weather.
“But it took the two driest years since records began for us to get into this drought and one wet month, even one as wet as April, will not be enough to get us out of it. Last month’s downpours will wipe out the shortfall for the last couple of months, but not all the dry months before that. So although April’s rain has not got us out of jail, it has loosened the locks slightly.”
Households may be forced to get their water from standpipes in the street if England endures another dry winter, Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, has warned this week.
But MP for Newbury Richard Benyon and Fisheries minister for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) called for calm.
“If we have a third dry winter the chances of standpipes increases but the chances are remote,” he said. “Defra recognises we are seeing a different climate emerge and these extremes weathers will continue, so we have to be able to cope. In this country we wash our cars and water our garden with drinking water, other countries think we’re crazy to do that. We also want to see greater connectivity between water companies so water can be distributed to areas that need it.”