Far from the impressive panoramas that it continues to offer to tourists passing through London, the Thames has dried up at its source. The river, which crosses England for 350 kilometres, has been greatly affected by the drying up of groundwater along the Canal. As reported by guardianJuly 2022 is the driest July on record since 1935 in the country.
A fountain that recedes 8 kilometers.
The Thames rises at the foot of the Costwolds Hills in Gloucestershire, not far from Wales, in favor of an outcropping of the water table. But now, you have to go down the river bed for almost 8 kilometers before you see the first traces of water.
Upstream, the Thames is characterized only by dry dirt roads, with a few muddy puddles at best. The usefulness of the bridges that normally span the river has disappeared. Here and there, carcasses of crayfish are offered to the view of passers-by.
“After a prolonged drought, the headwaters of the Thames in Gloucestershire have dried up. The first trickle of water can be seen 8 kilometers below”, he details in the guardian Rob Collins, Scientific Director of the Rivers Trust.
All the experts quoted by the London newspaper say that this is the first time that such a phenomenon has been observed.
“The African Savannah”
For tourists who have come to see the source of the most emblematic river in the United Kingdom, the disappointment is great. “It’s completely dry. There are puddles, mud, but no water is flowing so far. Sure we hope to find the Thames downstream, but so far it’s gone,” a tourist in the town of Ashton Keynes told Agence France-Presse. , a few kilometers from the source.
“It seems that we are walking in the African savannah”, abounds another.
There is no respite in sight anytime soon: The National Meteorological Agency issued an orange heat watch for southern England and eastern Wales on Tuesday between Thursday and Sunday, with temperatures reaching 35-36 degrees.
Local authorities increase calls for water savings, and the company that supplies the capital, London, has announced upcoming restrictions on consumption, which will be added to those already in force in part of the south of the country.
In France, drought phenomena have also been observed in many rivers due to the drought that does not spare France. The Gorges du Verdon had to close this week due to a worrying level of water.
Source: BFM TV
