A shade under two months to go to the end of my annual monitoring period and the good news continues. Another week without any significant rainfall means the water levels in the Rive Till have fallen very rapidly and the river is pretty much confined to its main channel. The water levels in the aquifer are falling and the rate of fall is increasing. That said, the rate of fall is very slow compared to the rate at which it rose and I suspect its going to be a couple of weeks before the level slips back into the normal range below 99 metres AOD.
As of 04:00 this morning, the Environment Agency Flood Alert for the village remains in force. The latest update observes:
A return to warmer, wetter conditions from the second half of the month could bring levels back up again quite quickly. You are advised to take the opportunity to check any pumps are in good working order and that stocks of sandbags are replenished. Septic tanks may need emptying as soakaways may not work for some time.
Are they right about the rain? Well, next week certainly starts dry, but there is a chance of rain or wintry showers on Thursday. Other than that, there seems to be very little chance of rain here in the south of England until the last week of February. Rain and strong winds may move into the north-west of the country and track south eastwards. Whether they will get as far as Salisbury Plain remains a bit uncertain.