Although we have had a little rain over the last week, it clearly hasn’t amounted to much as the water levels in the River Till have continued to fall and the inundation in the meadow to the south of the village has now virtually gone. The water level in the Tilshead borehole has also dropped throughout the week, with the biggest drop being over the last 48 hours. That said, the level is still above the 99m AOD level which is the flood alert trigger level and the environment Agency re-issued their flood alert for groundwater flooding on Salisbury Plain yesterday, writing:
“Groundwater levels remain high across Salisbury Plain. As a result of the more settled weather over the past few days, readings in some boreholes appear to be leveling off or falling slowly, however, there is still the possibility of flooding. Although the weather has been more settled recently there is a risk of more rainfall for overnight Saturday and early next week which has the potential to sustain high groundwater levels in this area into next week. Reports indicate that properties are pumping and sewage systems could be impacted and roads affected. We encourage residents with pumps and other property resilience measures to put them in place and ensure they are working…”
If the current rate of fall is maintained and there is no further heavy rain, then we would guess the Flood Alert will be dropped by mid-week. However, the system is finely balanced and heavy rain could reverse the current downward trend over the same period.
The short-term weather prospects are mixed with showers overnight and rain tomorrow, with further showers and rain during the week. The following week could see even more rain, but beyond that is a period of greater weather uncertainty. If the weather pattern becomes more settled, then it could get a lot colder and drier than it is now; but it might not. There is still the possibility of snow in February, but it may be confined to the north of the country so don’t start hunting for the sledges just yet.