England had its driest February for 30 years, according to the Met Office and so rivers are expected to be really low in the spring.

That in turn has led to the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology to warn that unless we have "unseasonably sustained rainfall" in the coming months, South West England is again at the risk of drought.

Around the Wessex water area it has been the 12th driest period since Environment Agency records began in 1891.

In the record for this area the Agency has reported : The whole month was predominately dry with most days receiving less than 1mm of rain and no day receiving more than 3mm. Soil moisture deficit (SMD) decreased slightly but remained less than 10mm for the whole month. Monthly mean flows were normal for the chalk catchments but ranged from below normal to exceptionally low for the other areas of Wessex. The daily mean flows at all our reporting sites receded with most sites ending the month below normal to exceptionally low. Groundwater levels decreased at most reporting sites throughout February, ending the month with levels ranging from exceptionally low to above normal. Reservoir levels either remained steady or decreased slightly during February with both Wessex Water and Bristol ending the month with storage levels around 96%.

But at least in Somerset it is not as dire as the situation in Devon and Cornwall.

According to the latest Environment Agency data those two received just 21% of the February long term average (LTA) rainfall, which was classed as 'notably low' for the time of year. "Soil moisture deficit increased during February and ended the month higher than the LTA. Monthly mean river flows ranged from 'notably low' to 'exceptionally low' for the time of year."