Weather hots up but no hosepipe bans expected

As temperatures are expected to soar this weekend the water company says reservoirs are still almost full, meanwhile an outdoor public pool in Newbury is still not open

THERE could be thunder storms in West Berkshire this weekend thanks to a ‘Spanish plume' moving in from the Mediterranean.

The hot weather is due to continue this weekend after the warmest April in the UK since records began with temperatures in most of England and eastern parts of Scotland and Wales more than 5C above normal.

Temperatures are expected to reach about 20C today (Saturday) and 17C tomorrow but there is a risk of thunder storms.

Other areas in the UK could reach temperatures of 31C.

Although many of us have been enjoying the warm weather it has sparked a number of wildfires across the country, including in Swinley Forest, near Ascot and Bracknell, where a fire has been raging since Monday (May 2).

More than 100 firefighters from Berkshire Fire and Rescue were still at the scene yesterday afternoon trying to tackle the blaze.

Despite the dry weather Thames Water say its reservoirs are still near to capacity and there is no risk of a hosepipe ban.

A spokeswoman for Thames Water, Becky Johnson, said: "Our reservoirs are more than 95 per cent full, which is about what we would expect for the time of year.

“The ground water levels are also really healthy. One dry month won't make too much difference to our levels because we store water from the winter in readiness for the summer.

“Although we do not currently see the need for any water restrictions this year, we continue to encourage our customers to use water wisely."

Work is also underway at Northcroft Leisure Centre, Newbury, to get its outdoor pool open by the end of the month.

Manager of the centre, Alex Godfrey, said he would have loved the outdoor pool to be open during April but essential maintenance had to be carried out.

“It would have been fantastic and great for business had we been open in April but because of the harsh winter the pool needed a lot of maintenance,” he said.

“It's a big attraction in Newbury so we wanted to make the repairs now so it can remain open in the future.

“The outdoor pool normally opens in May and we hope to be open on May 28 but because it's such a big pool it takes two weeks just to fill up so we can't open the pool at a moments notice.”