UK farmers call for cross-country pipelines after driest winter in 20 years

Farmers and conservationists warn of water shortage, with 'water shunting' from wet north to dry south seen as one solution

Farmers are warning that water may have to be transferred across Britain after an unusually dry winter and spring left more than four-fifths of rivers with too little to support local growers.

Fears of a drought were expected to ease this weekend as scattered showers usher in a more traditional British spring, but wildlife and agriculture industries are bracing for a long, parched summer.