The English River, which is 350 kilometers long, has dried up at its base after a historically low winter and spring according to rainfall records.
Far from the awe-inspiring panoramas it offers to tourists traveling through London, the Thames has dried up at its source. The river, which crosses England for 350 kilometers, has been hit hard by the drying up of groundwater over the English Channel. The Guardian reports that July 2022 is the driest July in the country since 1935.
A source receding 8 kilometers
The Thames rises at the foot of the Costwolds hills in Gloucestershire, not far from Wales, for the benefit of outcropping the water table. But now you have to descend the river bed for almost 8 kilometers before you see the first traces of water.
Upstream the Thames is only characterized by dry gravel roads, with a few muddy puddles at best. The use of the bridges that normally span the river has disappeared. Here and there crayfish carcasses offer themselves up to passers-by.
“Following a prolonged drought, the source of the Thames in Gloucestershire has dried up. The first thin trickle of water can be seen 8 kilometers below,” reports Guardian Rob Collins, Scientific Director of the Rivers Trust.
The experts cited by the London daily all say this is the first time such a phenomenon has been observed.
“The African Savannah”
Disappointment is great for tourists who have come to see the source of the UK’s most iconic river. “It’s completely dry. There are puddles, mud, but so far no water is flowing at all. We’re really hoping to find the Thames downstream but so far it’s gone,” a holidaymaker in the village of Ashton Keynes, a few miles from the source, told Agence France-Presse.
“It looks like we’re going for a walk in the African savannah,” says another.
There is no sign of a lull anytime soon: The National Weather Agency issued an orange heat alert for southern England and east Wales on Tuesday between Thursday and Sunday with temperatures of 35 to 36 degrees.
Local authorities are increasingly calling for water conservation and the capital city of London’s utility announced forthcoming consumption restrictions, which will add to those already in place in parts of the south of the country.
Also in France, due to the drought that has not spared France, signs of drying up have been observed on many rivers. The Gorges du Verdon were forced to close this week in the face of worrying water levels.
with Jules Fresard with AFP