IN the wonderful world of the British weather, what a difference a year can make.

In spring 2012, after one of the driest 18 months on record, reservoirs were running dangerously low and some rivers were even starting to dry up. But in spring 2013 the land is sodden, rivers are running full to bursting and there have been widespread floods across Worcestershire.

Dave Throup, Environment Agency manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, said: “Two successive dry winters and a dry but dull and cool summer in 2011 meant that by March the Midlands had recorded the driest 18 months on record.”

“The dry conditions were having a dramatic impact on the amount of water in our rivers. The flows in many, such as the Severn, Avon and Wye, were less than a quarter of what we would expect and the headwaters of some rivers, such as the Teme in Shropshire actually began to dry out completely and we had to begin rescuing fish that were getting stranded in isolated pools. “Farmers and growers were getting increasingly worried about their ability to water crops, particularly if the weather stayed dry through the summer. But little did we know what lay in store.

“On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 it started to rain across the Midlands. Everyone was relieved and grateful for the respite in the drought conditions. The problem was that it didn’t stop. “Every month except May until the end of the year was wetter than normal and in many cases much, much wetter. By December the preceding nine months were the wettest in the Midlands since records began in 1910. “Even more remarkably, when taken as a whole across England and Wales, 2012 was the wettest year on record. This really is amazing when you consider that the first quarter of the year saw virtually no rain.

“Ironically, farmers and growers who in April were worried about whether they would have enough water for their crops found their ground waterlogged and, in many cases, completely inaccessible. Crops have been ruined and feed costs for livestock have escalated as normal grazing has been restricted or prevented. It was truly a year of bonkers weather.

“So have we had a vision of the future during 2012 or just been subjected to the natural variability of the British weather? “I don’t know, and I’d suggest neither does anyone else. It’s not possible to attribute any single event to climate change. “However, if we do accept that the world is warming, then the type of weather we’ve seen during 2012 are more likely to occur. “Warmer air holds more water and changes to ocean temperatures may change the global scale air circulations, such as the jet stream, which have a huge impact on our weather. Extremes of all sorts are more likely.”

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