A dried-out river used in a Thames Water poster to illustrate the intensity of the drought is today the subject of a flood alert.
The cracked and parched bed of the River Pang in Berkshire was one image used by the company to shock Londoners into using less water.
But after a weekend of torrential rain the Environment Agency today warned that it is running so high that “flooding of low-lying land and roads adjacent to the river is possible”.
The Pang was one of 31 rivers in the South-East where flooding was considered a threat following the storm that swept through southern England. The alert came as the Badminton Horse Trials were cancelled because the course is too waterlogged for horses to jump.
For the first time today Thames Water acknowledged that the huge levels of rainfall in April are starting to ease the drought.
A spokesman said: “Although we are not out of jail yet April’s rain has slightly turned the lock. Twenty of the previous 25 months had below average rainfall so all this has done is wipe out the deficit in February and March.”
The Met Office said that after a brief lull today, wet weather is forecast to return tonight with heavy rain spreading from the south.
