Parched locals in Britain’s driest place have their thirst quenched with some cold pints thanks to The Sun
PARCHED locals in Britain’s driest place had their thirst quenched with some cold pints yesterday thanks to The Sun.
Dressed as Roman god of water Neptune, our man Amir Razavi got a round in for punters spitting feathers in Hampshire village Odiham.
They need the heavens to open after not seeing a drop of rain this month — declared by the Met Office the driest July since 1911.
Only 24 per cent of the month’s expected amount of rain has fallen so far.
Odiham, which has a population of 4,500 and was home to French prisoners in the Napoleonic Wars, has been bone-dry all month.
We got the beers in at The Waterwitch pub, where customer Karen Ford, 52, said: “I’m praying to the gods for a bit of rain.”
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Mum-of-three Karen, an assistant manager in retail, added: “It’s been getting too hot — I’ve been hiding indoors to get away from it.”
And account manager, Kerry Diggins, 39, said: “We should all be doing the rain dance to try to get some rain around here. It’s no surprise it’s the driest area down this way — it’s been roasting and too hot.
“My grass is yellow, it’s completely scorched and looks awful. I’ve given up on my flowers and trying to make everything look pretty — it’s all dead.
“But you’ve also got to think about the animals who can’t get to natural water.”
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Local farmers are also feeling the heat, with the ground badly affected.
John Saunders, 80, who runs JPS Farming said: “We could definitely do with a good few inches of rain pouring down soon.”
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The Met Office’s Mark McCarthy said: “It is not just July that has been dry.
“Since the start of the year, all months apart from February have been drier than average in the UK, too.”
