The hosepipe restrictions introduced in North West England to save water due to drought described by weather experts as the second driest first half of a year for nearly a century, follow severe rain and flood impacts in this region at the end of 2009. This dramatic shift in weather conditions underscores how climate change can deliver us the unexpected. The ban, which started 9 July, includes Manchester, Lancaster, Liverpool and the Lake District, but not Allerdale, Carlisle, Copeland and the North Eden valley affected in November. Scotland was also expected to issue water conservation appeals for Dumfries and Galloway, where reservoir and lake levels were low. Due to extreme weather patterns, the North West has moved from a flood to a drought scenario in under nine months. In November Cumbria was inundated after one month of rainfall fell in 48 hours.
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