There has been a slow but steady rise in the level of water in the Tilshead borehole over the week. This has been mirrored for much of the week by the river which has broken its banks in several places and the usual spots in the southern water meadow have filled again. However, over the last 24 hours, there has been a slight fall in the river level, which may indicate the way things might go over the coming week. Borehole levels are some 5-6 metres above the average for early March. A Flood Warning is still in force for groundwater flooding in the Till Valley and a Flood Alert for Salisbury Plain. These may be revised later today.
We have had a fair bit of rainfall over the week and it is possible that the most recent, which had an immediate effect on river levels has not yet worked its way down into the aquifer. Although today has started frosty, the grass has started to grow and shrubs and trees are coming into bud. Spring is trying very hard to get going and that will start to take water out of the surface layers. Over February, we had 135mm of rain in the village. That compares with the Met Office’s data which shows southern England had twice the normal rainfall. It was also the warmest February on record which is why Spring is so advanced.
The rest of the day should be fine but expect rain showers to return tomorrow and a few showers on Tuesday. Midweek should see the welcome return of dry weather, but we are likely to see the return of some rainy spells as we move towards and into the weekend. This sort of weather is likely to continue into the middle of March, with yet more wet weather towards the end of the month.
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