The figures are in – April was one of the driest on record

Even with some late April showers during this bank holiday weekend, the UK had its fourth driest on record and the South East its tenth.

South East Water has confirmed that despite the early in the season dry spell, its water resources are in a good position. But it is asking its customers still to be mindful as the South East only received 19 per cent of the usual rainfall for the normally wetter month.

Customers are being asked to think about planting drought resistant plants and to scrap the sprinkler so the dry spell doesn’t have an impact later on in the year.

Lee Dance, Head of Water Resources, at South East Water said: “We saw a record breaking dry April this year and although our water levels are in a good place we are still asking customers to be mindful during dry periods.

“As we want our customers’ gardens to look their very best throughout the summer months, we are highlighting that there are drought resistant plants now available in garden centres which need less water saving time watering plants.”

Nicholas Dexter, an award winning landscape gardener inspired by nature, who designed a Drought Garden for the Chelsea Flower Show has plenty of tips on how we can follow his lead.

Nicholas said: “Seasonal weather has noticeably shifted over the past few years resulting in a new pattern of hot-dry spring and summers often followed by second wave of dry weather in autumn.

“In the last decade the UK has recorded eight new high temperature records. Extremely wet winters and strong winds are also seemingly common meteorological events.

“It’s all quite extreme especially compared to the typical British grey drizzle that has allowed people to garden so effectively over the past 100 years.

“Look out for plants with smaller leaves or silver foliage that reflect the sunlight and therefore reduce the amount of leaf transpiration.

“Succulent plants are also worth considering as they have evolved to cope with drought by storing water in their fleshy leaves. Be mindful to select hardy succulents that are frost resistant otherwise they’ll suffer in the winter months - Sedums rather than Agaves.”

To read what drought resistant plants Nicholas recommends on our blog.