After the driest April since the war, is Yorkshire now heading for a drought?

In its monthly summary for April, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology said England and Wales received the lowest March and April rainfall since 1938, with a few regions suffering the lowest rain in records dating back more than 100 years.

East Anglia and the East Midlands received just 12% of the average rainfall for the period, and all of England and Wales saw exceptionally low levels of rain.

River flows in a number of rivers by the end of the month including the Exe, Tone, Wye, Tawe and Ribble were similar to, or even below, those seen during the 1976 drought, the summary showed.

Water companies have been drawing from alternative sources where possible to conserve reservoir stocks, and most reservoirs remain above 80% of capacity, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology said.

But stocks are well below the late spring average in parts of the South West, Wales and Yorkshire.

It was the hottest April across the UK in records dating back 100 years, and a longer record for central England shows it was provisionally the warmest April in the area for more than 350 years.

The CEH said the exceptionally dry spring, which follows a relatively dry 2010, had resulted in agricultural and hydrological drought conditions affecting large parts of southern Britain.

The main impacts were on farmers and growers, an increased risk of heath and forest fires and on river flows.

The amount of water replenishing reservoirs was “very meagre” and reservoirs saw their second largest March/April decline since 1997.

Terry Marsh from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology said: “Historical rainfall figures indicate a tendency for dry spring periods to be followed by above-average summer rainfall.

“But with evaporation rates increasing, even average summer rainfall would imply very low late summer river flows - and an associated major contraction in the river network.”

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman told the Commons today that she would convene a water meeting next week with water companies, farming and environment groups to make sure the country was prepared for drought conditions.

She said: “I’ve discussed the issue of dry weather with leading players in the water industry to make sure we’re properly prepared for prolonged dry conditions.

“They assure me that they are monitoring the situation closely and there are some regional variations but overall the industry is resilient and confident of maintaining supplies.

“Farmers are already dealing with the effects of the dry weather and understandably have concerns about any implications for crops and animals.

“We’re keeping a close eye on this and will continue working with the industry if less water needs to be taken from rivers to keep them flowing.

“We’ll continue to work closely together with those on the ground to deal with dry weather issues such as forest fires, impacts on crop yields or harm to habitats from rivers drying up.”