Spectre of 1976 as London gets a drought alert

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Thames Water, the capital's supplier, warned that unless the next few months bring deluges of rain a hosepipe ban and other urgent measures will have to be imposed.

This follows one of the driest winters on record, which has reduced river levels and left underground stores of water critically low.
"Ground water levels in parts of our region are lower than they were during the 1976 drought, following below average rainfall for 18 of the last 23 months," a spokeswoman for the company said.

"It's now not a case of whether we'll be having a drought this year, it's a case of when and how bad."

The summer of 1976 saw the worst drought in generations, with reservoirs running dry in the baking heat and thousands of homes cut off, forcing people to fill their kettles from public standpipes in the street.

The spokeswoman for Thames, which supplies eight million homes, said it was too early to say if drastic measures like standpipes would be needed. She said the crisis could not be solved by April showers alone.

"Droughts are not caused by a few dry weeks and they aren't solved by a few wet ones. We need 120 to 130 per cent of long-term average rainfall from February to April to reduce the risk of a drought. All of us can help by using less water."

The Environment Agency says the worst-affected regions include the South-East, Midlands and East Anglia. In some areas, underground supplies are already being used. Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman is holding a summit of water and environmental officials on Monday.