The April showers that didn't show! Wettest place in Britain now driest after no rain

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated: 13:06 EST, 5 May 2011

In 2009, Seathwaite Farm in Borrowdale, Cumbria, had the unfortunate privilege of being named the wettest place in the UK after more than 300mm fell in just one day.

Roll on a couple of years and the beauty spot is as dry as a bone having seen no rain for more than a month.

April was the hottest on record for England and Wales, according to the Met Office, with just 21 per cent of expected rainfall.

Temperatures have been the hottest on average since records began 353 years ago.
Seathwaite Farm earned its moniker for being the wettest place in the UK during the devastating Cumbrian floods in November 2009.

Bone dry: The River Derwent at Seathwaite is totally dry today after the warmest ever April

As it should be: The River Derwent full of water. April temperatures have been the hottest in the 353 years since records began

Unusually dry: The river flows under the old arched bridge in Barrowdale, which is officially Britain's wettest place after 300mm of rain fell in 24hours during 2009

A massive 316.4mm of rain poured into the tiny village. The Met Office said it was the highest rainfall ever seen in the UK.

Now residents have contrasting fears - they are worried about a hosepipe ban as the sun continues to beat down on the Lake District hamlet.

Duncan Ellwood, 46, who owns the Grange Bridge Cottage Teashop, said: 'Customers have been chatting about the dry weather in the shop, and wondering if we may be facing another hose pipe ban.

'I have never known an April in Borrowdale to be this dry. In April you expect to be getting lots of showers, but it hasn't rained now in over a month.

'I am having to water my garden every day to stop it from dying. When it does rain here, it rains pretty forcefully. This is what we are hoping for soon.' 

The parched river bed in the Lake District hamlet has left local residents fearful of a hosepipe ban

Patsy Lane, 64, a grandmother of three and retired teacher, of Ludlow, Herefordshire, said: 'We holiday in the Lake District regularly and come to Borrowdale a lot. We've been coming here on holiday since we were kids.

'I've never seen it as dry as this before in all the years I've been coming here - the rivers are noticeably lower and I think the prolonged dry weather is going to create major problems. It's very hot today and the weather is great for a holiday, we're not used to it being like this.'

An Environment Agency spokesman said: 'We are concerned that the continuing dry weather could affect wildlife, including fish and plant life that live in and around our rivers and lakes. We are keeping a check on this situation and will do what we can to alleviate such problems.'