Huddersfield gets 20mm of rain in 12 hours as Yorkshire reservoirs full

RECORD-breaking rainfall has given a massive boost to Yorkshire’s water stocks.

The torrential downpours of April have been followed by a very soggy start to May and have replenished Yorkshire Water’s borehole stocks, which are now at normal levels.

The Pennine reservoirs around Huddersfield are also full, following more heavy rain.

But it’s bad news for those looking to enjoy the outdoor life.

More than 20mm of rain fell in just 12 hours overnight in Huddersfield from Wednesday into Thursday and in just 10 days of May, the town has had half the expected monthly rainfall.

The figure so far has reached 30mm with the average for the month standing at 60mm.

And Salendine Nook weatherman Paul Stevens warns: “There’s more on the way.”

He forecast more heavy showers for today and even though there will be a bit of respite over the weekend, more downpours and cold weather are likely next week.

“There’s no sign yet of anything like summer weather and all the indications are it’s looking like another very wet month, after the record figures in April.”

But the rain has delighted Yorkshire Water officials, who only 10 weeks ago had borehole stocks 20% down on where they should be for that time of year.

But the persistent rain has meant borehole levels are now where the company would expect them to be, with overall stocks boosted by more than 13 billion litres of water since the start of spring.

The company, which provides its 4.9 million customers with an average of 1.24 billion litres of water a day, sources its drinking water from rivers and boreholes, as well as its extensive reservoir network in the Pennines.

Matt Thompson, from Yorkshire Water, said: “It would be stretching it to say that we’re in a record position for this time of year in terms of our water resources, but the recent rainfall has certainly helped to bring our stocks back to healthy levels, with reservoirs full and borehole levels back to where we'd expect them to be.

“It’s important that stocks are healthy as we’re entering into the typically drier months of the year and we’ll continue to work hard to manage and balance stocks across the region.”

The company invested an extra £39m into reducing leakage on its 32,000km network of water pipes over the last 12 months, and is confident that it will meet this year’s leakage target set by industry regulator Ofwat.