Recent rainfall fails to break ongoing drought across England and Wales

In the last few days of August and start of September, more rain fell than any other week since early February, according to the Environment Agency.

Despite the change to more unsettled and wetter conditions, all of Wales and most of England remains in drought.

And water companies are reminding customers that temporary hosepipe bans are still in force despite the rainfall and decreased demand with the cooler weather.

More rain is in the forecast this week and while that will be welcome, sustained rainfall is needed to reverse drought conditions.

While we had a brief return of summer heat over the weekend for some, the weather since the start of September - and meteorological autumn - has been more unsettled.

According to figures from the Environment Agency (EA), in the week from 28 August to 3 September, rainfall totals ranged from 26mm in south-east England to 48mm in central England.

However, the National Drought Group said that water storage "continued to decline at most reservoirs".

There has been no change to the EA drought status or the temporary use bans in force across ten water company areas.

Which areas are under a hosepipe ban?

While there has been less demand for water due to the cooler and wetter weather, "further significant rainfall is needed" to return to normal conditions the EA suggests.

In the first week of September there has been a big variation in rainfall across the UK.

For parts of Scotland we've already seen half the average September rainfall in the first 7 days of the month.

Prestwick, South Ayrshire for example has had 47mm compared to the whole month average of 79mm - or 59% of the average.

However, southern England and south Wales have been largely dry with locations in East Sussex, Buckinghamshire and the Isle of Wight recording less than a millimeter of rain - or 1% of the average September rain.