Is the UK at risk of drought again this winter?

Overall, the UK received 23% less rain than average, according to official Met Office figures.

England received only a third of its average April rainfall. East Anglia and parts of the southeast, even less so.

Provisional data from Shawburyness in Essex shows that April was the driest on record, with just 0.6mm of rain recorded for the month – just 2% of the monthly average.

Both areas experienced one of the driest Aprils on record, with Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire averaging less than 5% rainfall.

Andrew Blenkiron, who manages 10,000 acres of farmland on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk, told BBC Weather that after a dry March they got 2mm of rain in April, with an average of around 50mm.

This meant that they had to start applying water to their land two weeks earlier than usual. He warned that the lack of rain could have a big impact on this year’s crop, “It’s basically dying on its feet. If we don’t get rain, it will reduce the maximum yield to 50%.”

With less than 10mm of rain in England for four consecutive weeks, the Environment Agency said “river flows are currently falling in most areas”.

“Water scarcity is a real issue in the south-east,” said Simon Flundi of Southern Water, which oversees water supplies in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Fluendy added that wet weather at the beginning of the year does not mean “there is no risk of drought”.