The wettest March in England in more than 40 years appears to have significantly boosted reservoir water levels.

Some 111.3mm (4.4in) of rain fell last month – up to 30 March – 91% more than average, and photos show levels much improved at several locations.

Parts of Ardingly reservoir in West Sussex dried up last summer, and levels there – and at Hanningfield in Essex – dropped by more than a fifth in August.

Firms such as Thames Water and Yorkshire Water had hosepipe bans in place until the end of the year.

However, photos from this week show previously depleted reservoirs looking far healthier.

The March deluge followed the driest February in England for 30 years and a warning the UK was one dry spell away from a return to drought conditions.

The Met Office’s Alex Burkill said: “Water levels weren’t particularly high going into March, you need several months of wet weather to make a significant impact on reservoirs.

“March was very wet for West Sussex, the fifth wettest month on record.”

Ardingly reservoir

Hanningfield reservoir

Images also show a big improvement at Baitings reservoir in West Yorkshire (top of the page), with August’s narrow stream now touching each bank.

Levels at some reservoirs are now above average for the time of year.

“Our water resources are in a healthy position at the current time and a little above where we would expect them to be,” said Steve Andrews from South East Water.

However, he said demand was likely to rise as warmer temperatures move in, meaning the company would still be asking customers to use water wisely.

There was also a warning this week from the National Climate Information Centre that recent downpours were not enough “to fully recover the deficit of rain over the last 12 months”.

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