UK hydrological review 2003 (2nd ed.)

This Hydrological Review, which also provides an overview of water resources status throughout 2003, is a reformatted version of the original commentary released as a web report in 2004. Some of the data featured in this report, particularly the more extreme flows, may have been subsequently revised. The annual Hydrological Reviews are components in the National Hydrological Monitoring Programme (NHMP) which was instigated in 1988 and is undertaken jointly by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) and the British Geological Survey (BGS) – both are component bodies of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The National River Flow Archive (maintained by CEH) and the National Groundwater Level Archive (maintained by BGS) provide the historical perspective within which to examine contemporary hydrological conditions. A primary source of information for this review is the series of monthly UK Hydrological Summaries (for further details please visit: http://www.ceh.ac.uk/data/nrfa/nhmp/nhmp.html). The river flow and groundwater level data featured in the Hydrological Summaries – and utilised by many NHMP activities – have been provided by the Environment Agency (EA), Natural Resources Wales - Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and their precursor organisations. For Northern Ireland, the hydrological data were sourced from the Rivers Agency and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The great majority of the reservoir level information has been provided by the Water Service Companies, the EA, Scottish Water and Northern Ireland Water (formerly Water Service). The generality of meteorological data, including the modelled assessments of evaporation and soil moisture deficits featured in the report, has been provided by the Met Office. To allow better spatial differentiation the monthly rainfall data for Britain are presented for the regional divisions of the precursor organisations of the EA and SEPA. The Met Office monthly rainfall series are Crown Copyright and may not be passed on to, or published by, any unauthorised person or organisation. The provision of the basic data, which provides the foundation both of this report and the wider activities of the NHMP, is gratefully acknowledged