Still no real rainfall in your area?

[Neilsouth]

Why do forecasters keep saying " we do need the rain "

Not in this part of east kent , the grounds are very saturated especially the fields. They can't hold anymore water and it flows straight out onto the roads , like today some roads are flooded because of the water run off. The lakes are full to the brim and the rivers are high!

How are the levels in other parts of the uk?

[TEITS]

Because some parts of the UK only recieved 32% of there average rainfall during May.

[Neilsouth]

Because some parts of the UK only recieved 32% of there average rainfall during May.

So why not say that then? instead of lumping everyone in ?.

" Most parts need the rain "

Seriously in this part of kent we don't need anymore , it's hard enough as it is walking through the woods like a bog!. I've even seen a stream form through one wood which i've not seen before

[trickydicky]

So why not say that then? instead of lumping everyone in ?.

" Most parts need the rain "

Seriously in this part of kent we don't need anymore , it's hard enough as it is walking through the woods like a bog!. I've even seen a stream form through one wood which i've not seen before

I think my region is one of the areas that has done worst/best in terms of rain ammounts. Prior to the last week or so it hadn't properly spannered it down since November, when it really did spanner it down. But, I still get upset when forecasters and people on here start saying we need rain. We never need rain in this country, there's loads of water all over the place. Plus, in any given dry spell you can guarantee in a week or two it will be back hammering it down left, right and centre, you'll be wet, the dog wont want to go out and you'll have a cold.

Edited June 11, 2010 by trickydicky

[4wd]

Crops are establishing or trying to grow rapidly at this time of year and the vast majority of farmland in the UK has no irrigation facility - so rain at sensible intervals is needed.

Summer rain has to be prolonged to get down to aquifers but keeping river levels healthy is desirable too, as there are many weeks of potential dryish weather to go.

[MP-R]

Fortunately, the sheer amount of snow in December, January and February resulted in a lot of snowmelt probably equivalent to a decent amount of rain. Since then though rainfall has been very erratic. The Atlantic spell in March wasn't as wet as I would have hoped, April and May have both been dry, often sunny and later very warm and so far June continues on a dry note here and looks like staying that way for a while. One disadvantage of convective spells is the hit and miss nature of rainfall.

Of course other parts have faired better - the ~50mm some people got on 1st/2nd May and the thunderstorms of recent days and the current rainfall in the SE. The SW has probably been one of the driest parts of the country.

[TEITS]

So why not say that then? instead of lumping everyone in ?.

" Most parts need the rain "

Seriously in this part of kent we don't need anymore , it's hard enough as it is walking through the woods like a bog!. I've even seen a stream form through one wood which i've not seen before

Because most parts do need rain. Thankfully we don't all live in Kent!

[Bottesford]

Fortunately, the sheer amount of snow in December, January and February resulted in a lot of snowmelt probably equivalent to a decent amount of rain.

Not around here since we got only a very limited amount of snow cover (probably only 5cm over the whole winter) and since then next to no rain at all. It's been a very dry and cold/cool 6 months around here. However last weekend/early this week certainly addressed that with bucket loads falling causing localised flooding. But if it were to stop now then it'll quickly turn very dry again.

[AderynCoch]

It's been a notably dry year here so far, but even so the sporadic rainfall we've had has been sufficient enough to water the ground without soaking it. The grass isn't turning brown or anything.

[Backtrack]

It's been a notably dry year here so far, but even so the sporadic rainfall we've had has been sufficient enough to water the ground without soaking it. The grass isn't turning brown or anything.

Not to mention we are probably the cloudiest region in the UK. So the ground wont dry out as fast.

We don't any rain atm.

[Neilsouth]

Thanks for the replies , interesting to see who doesn't need anymore and those that do.. So it's certainly not a national thing

[Marcus_surfer]

Keep it dry please, and back to a dry very cold winter again!

[staplehurst]

We had a very dry Spring in this part of Kent, then we get a couple of days each month with deluges rather than it being spread out over the month.

Rainfall in April was only 30%, whilst May was a little better at 51%. To be fair, reservoirs are at almost full capacity in Kent.

[AderynCoch]

Not to mention we are probably the cloudiest region in the UK. So the ground wont dry out as fast.

We don't any rain atm.

We're definitely not the cloudiest region in the UK. I believe that honour goes to the Shetland Isles.

[snowlover2009]

So why not say that then? instead of lumping everyone in ?.

" Most parts need the rain "

Seriously in this part of kent we don't need anymore , it's hard enough as it is walking through the woods like a bog!. I've even seen a stream form through one wood which i've not seen before

sorry but that is pathetic what you just said. you quote this, 'most parts need the rain', then put this 'well in this part of kent we dont need anymore.' that is stupid, you can already see the from the first quote that it says 'most' as in many areas of the country!!!! it doesn't mean everywhere. kent may have had more rain, but most of the country needs the rain. why can you not even see what this means?!

we dont all live in kent. just because it has been wet down there a lot, doesn't mean that when the forecasters say 'we need the rain' mean they are referrign to th ehwole country. you can tell they didnt say all the country because they said 'most' meaning the majority of the country. is there any point of this thread?

and if you are to complain even more, be thankfull you had a good summer down there where it was quite dry, so i hear.

Edited June 11, 2010 by snowlover2009

[Thundery wintry showers]

Forecasts, particularly national forecasts, have to generalise across areas of the country and in comments like "we need the rain", "we" is most likely a general reference to the country as a whole.

I don't think this is an example of the "increasing value judgements" issue in weather forecasts and articles that I often lament about. It was regularly used in dry spells on the BBC forecasts of the 1990s which were generally sparing in their use of value judgements, and has a factual basis: if the country as a whole has had a major shortage of rainfall, taken as a whole, the country needs rain, irrespective of whether or not some individual locations are exceptions.

[The PIT]

It's been very dry here for the last two months. At the moment June is going alright but it looks like another dry spell coming up so it could end up being the third month on the bounce being below average.

[damianslaw]

April and May are traditionally the driest months of the year for many, June is often a fairly dry month, wouldn't worry too much about how dry it has been.. atlantic traditionally stirs into action by the end of the month, and look at the past three summers which have produced wet July's.

Mother nature will balance things out in due course it always does.

[J07]

Britain as a whole is not very good at dealing with the sort of dry spells that many other countries take in their stride. This is not surprising, because we are accustomed to fairly reliable year-round rainfall. The seasonal variation for much of the country is small, if it exists at all. Two weeks without rain anywhere would be notable, and you start getting "we need the rain" into the public conscious.

It doesn't help that the most densely populated part of the nation is water-stressed and there is a lack of mountains and significant river systems. There are plenty of places in the world where it does not rain for about 4 months of the year, and yet they produce enormous amounts of food (eg California's Central Valley). These Mediterranean climates also have much higher evaporation of soil moisture due to higher temperatures, more sunshine, and stronger sunshine.

Of course, they have adapted to their climate and have irrigation in place to get them through. For the UK, we are not prepared for this and there is inevitably a strong reaction to dry spells. And I think it's fair to say "real or perceived"!

[SunnySouthCoast]

It has been very dry round these parts, during the spring I could probably count on one hand the number of times it rained. Despite having some downpours in recent weeks the ground is quite parched still & grass is brown in places. Some trees have also been dropping their leaves at quite a rate.

[Neilsouth]

sorry but that is pathetic what you just said. you quote this,

wow someones spitting the dummy out , read it again and try to be calm as you're the only one not to post with any politeness

Thanks everyone else , good debate

Edited June 12, 2010 by neilsouth

[snowlover2009]

wow someones spitting the dummy out , read it again and try to be calm as you're the only one not to post with any politeness

Thanks everyone else , good debate

my post was not rude.

this is the forum and people have agreements and disagreements. i cannot put it any other way so what do you expect, hardly shouting and ranting am i? also my point is pretty fair, if you don't like my so called sulky attitude, then don't come on here, i don't have to agree with you, especially when my point makes sense to me. It is fairly easy to understand what the bbc weather said, when they said 'most of the country needs rain'. doesn't mean everyone does it? majority needs rain, that did not mean you then did it? End of...

Edited June 12, 2010 by snowlover2009

[mushymanrob]

Mother nature will balance things out in due course it always does.

if that was true, there would be no global warming!

i dont need any rain now for a month.. ive had enough to keep my business going, its a great job in pleasant dry conditions, a bugger in the rain...

[SP1986]

Here weve received just 180mm of rain since the start of the year, it's enough, but its been very dry. Where I live doesn't get too much rain anyway, only circa 600mm/yr which is typical of say most of the southeast/east, but what rain we usually get is evenly distributed throughout the year. This year it hasn't been the case.

Some yellow grass in places, mostly green though.

[SNOW GO]

Here in Cheshire we stay mainly the driest in the North West over the Summer period as the north of the region Lancashire and Cumbria tend to get the heaviest rain but this current prolonged dry spell despite the recent brief downpours is not the norm for the North West of England and its beginning to show, the grass on my lawn has not looked this yellow, brown colour since the 2003 heatwave that was shorter in duration than this mild but dry spell. We may not like it but if we dont want to look like the South of Spain in Summer we need the rain, whether we be in the South or North of the Uk.