Anyone for a barbecue? Temperatures set to hit 25C in parts of Britain today… as Environment Agency boffins invent bizarre new term to describe dry conditions

May 22nd, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Tamara Cohen

PUBLISHED:

18:55 EST, 21 May 2012

|

UPDATED:

21:56 EST, 21 May 2012

When is a drought not a drought? When it’s an Environmental Stress due to Rainfall Deficit.

An ‘ESRD’ for short, this is the new term being employed by the Environment Agency following the wettest April on record.

Officials admit it is not exactly catchy but believe it best describes the situation in the 19 counties no longer in drought.

Billie Ann Talbot, 3, took to the Williamson Square Fountain in Liverpool to cool off during the hot weather

Fun: Billie Ann Talbot, 3, took to the Williamson Square Fountain in Liverpool to cool off during the hot weather yesterday. The warm conditions are set to continue today with parts of the country reaching 25C

Fun in the sun: Three-year-old Ethan Ogden from Stoke enjoys the beach weather in Blackpool today

Fun in the sun: Three-year-old Ethan Ogden from Stoke enjoys the beach weather in Blackpool

And this is only the start of it. They plan to create ‘more sophisticated terminology’ to describe an array of dry conditions, and address concerns that the term drought is too ‘blunt’.

The aim is to prevent a repeat of the situation this year where people were told that their areas were officially in drought despite the fact their homes were being flooded.

In future, dry conditions could be divided into a number of sub-categories to describe the level of water shortage and who is affected.

The drought was rained off for much of the South West and the Midlands ten days ago after more than double the average rainfall last month.

The joys of spring: This couple take time to enjoy the much-longed for warm spell

Heaven in Devon: This couple relax on the beach in Slapton Sands beach in south Devon

It is still in force in the east of England, where hosepipes are banned.

Heavy downpours saw 150 properties flooded, 75 flood warnings issued and more than 10,000 phone calls to a flood helpline.

Thankfully, however, following the wettest April on record it is now looking likely that people can break out the barbecues and beach-gear with temperatures set to hit 25C in London and the south east today.

Coming as a blessed relief to fed-up Brits it looks like the summer is set to finally begin in earnest, with 24C possible in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds looking at 23C and Glasgow set to hit 20C today.

Lovely day for it: A kayaker enjoys the warm sunshine as he paddles in the sea off the beach at Beesands with Start Point behind in South Devon

Napping on the job: Builders catching some rays in Manchester, one of the hottest parts of the country

Napping on the job: Builders catching some rays in Manchester, one of the hottest parts of the country yesterday

And just as the country prepares for a heatwave, water companies have signalled the beginning of the end for the hosepipe ban, with restrictions relaxed for gardening companies.

Tomorrow could be the year’s hottest day so far, with temperatures set to surpass the 23.6C seen in Scotland on March 27.

Gareth Harvey, forecaster at MeteoGroup, said low cloud in the East this morning will burn back to be replaced by sunshine, adding: ‘Temperatures will go up to 23C or 24C in the South East and most of England and parts of Wales and Scotland will get in to the low 20s, with peaks in the London area.

‘By Wednesday temperatures could be even higher, peaking at 25C in parts of the South East. This is the best week on the horizon so far, with decent, summer-like weather.’

Drought? The Environment Agency's new terminology is supposed to prevent this year's situation, when people were told their areas were in drought despite flooding

Drought? The Environment Agency’s new terminology is supposed to prevent this year’s situation, when people were told their areas were in drought despite flooding

Tomorrow’s high temperatures are above those predicted in the traditional holiday hotspots of Corfu and Majorca, which are expecting 24C.

Speaking about the new ‘ESRD’ term, Trevor Bishop, the Environment Agency’s head of water resources, said: ‘People think of drought and they think of television programmes of Ethiopia, and we are not in that situation.’ Normally, he explained, the weather gets hotter and drier in the spring and summer.

‘But this year it got colder and wetter. People were finding themselves in areas categorised as in drought but actually were being flooded,’ he said.

The intense rainfall in spring has not solved the drought, he went on, adding: ‘We wanted to create a new terminology which represented this.’

Cropston Reservoir, in central England, in February (top) and May (below). The hosepipe ban is still in force in the east of England

The new terms will involve ‘gradations in the way we describe the water resources situation’. ‘That may or may not involve the term drought. It almost certainly will in some situations,’ Mr Bishop added.

Mr Bishop said water firms were ‘reasonably certain’ there would be no need for further water restrictions in a normal summer, but a heatwave could push supplies to ‘critical points’.

While it is unclear what the new terms will be, Dr David Boorman, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said experts already refer to meterological, hydrological, agricultural and economic drought, depending on whether the environment, farmers, homes or businesses are hit.