Yorkshire due 'sprinkling' of rain this weekend - as drought declared in parts of UK

Large acreages of bare foreshore at Howden Reservoir in the Peak District as well as Lockwood Reservoir and the River Lea in London show just how little rain there has been.

North Wales and the Upper Severn yesterday became the first part of the UK to declare drought status, following record dry conditions, heatwaves, wildfires and dwindling rivers, Natural Resources Wales said.

However the Met Office says change is on the way as the long-standing area of high pressure begins to yield to more unsettled conditions from the weekend.

Forecaster Niamh Murray said North Yorkshire was likely to see the most of the rain – but this would only amount to around 10mm over a 24-hour period, with low-lying areas of East Yorkshire getting just 1mm to 5mm.

“It’s more of a sprinkling,” she told The Yorkshire Post. There’d also be patchy rain on Sunday “which wouldn't add to accumulations massively”.

It comes as firefighters continued to battle a wildfire at Tintwistle Moor in Derbyshire which has been burning for nearly a month.

Crews were first called to the blaze, above Woodhead Road in Glossop, on June 24.

Since then an area of more than 600 hectares – around 900 football pitches - has been burned, it has been reported.

Meanwhile walkers and visitors are being urged to stay away from areas affected by the ongoing wildfire incident in the Cairngorms National Park, near the village of Glenmore, as “substantial hotspots remain”.

Data from National Resilience shows that fire and rescue services in England and Wales had responded to 342 wildfires by July 6.

Parts of Yorkshire haven’t seen rain now for nearly four weeks.

Topcliffe in North Yorkshire has had a dry spell lasting 25 days, barring the odd drop, while the Hull area has been dry for 21 days.

However Yorkshire Water says it doesn’t expect to have to put a hosepipe ban in place this summer, with reservoir capacity at around 75 per cent.