Where did all the rain go?

Months of below-average rainfall have left Bewl Water in Kent two-thirds empty at a time when reservoirs are usually filling up rapidly.

Northern parts of the country have been drenched over the past year, but much of the Midlands and south and east England have had half their normal levels of rain.

A series of warmer-than-average months have compounded the problem. Only January and the summer months were cooler than average.