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BBC Rural Affairs and Climate and Science teams
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The UK’s rivers are forecast to hit exceptionally low levels in some parts of the country in the next three months, according to the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), raising questions over supplies to households, farmers and businesses.
The warning comes after the driest spring in England since 1961, with northern regions experiencing the driest start to the year in nearly a century.
Almost all of the UK is expected to have below normal or low river levels in May, apart from the south-west of England.
The Environment Agency has said that the UK is at medium risk of drought and warned households of the risk of water restrictions.
The next 2-3 weeks will be “crucial” in determining if drought will happen, says Mark Owen, head of fisheries for the Angling Trust and a member of the National Drought Group.
That is the group led by the government that can declare if drought is officially underway.
The country is not now in drought, but the impacts of the exceptionally dry weather are already being felt.
Some farmers are being forced to water their crops instead of relying on rainfall, which is something that normally happens later in the year.
“We are having a drought now from an agricultural point of view,” arable farmer Nick Deane told BBC News from his farm in Norfolk.
He had to start irrigating his fields in March.
“We have to ration our water and decide which areas we are