Water at 'significant scarcity' for sixth consecutive week as Wick sees its warmest September day for 68 years
Wick experienced its warmest September day for 68 years on Tuesday as the town's water level remained at "significant scarcity" for a sixth consecutive week.
Scotland's environmental regulator says that in the worst-affected areas "it will take a significant amount of rainfall" before water supplies return to normal.
During long sunny spells with a moderate southerly wind the temperature peaked at 23.0C (73.4F) on Tuesday afternoon, according to local weather watcher Keith Banks.
His figures show that Wick's highest temperature for any day in September is 23.9C (75.0F), recorded on September 7, 1953.
"Overnight, the temperature in the town did not fall below a remarkable 16.0C (60.8F)," said Mr Banks, who writes a monthly Weather Watch column for the John O'Groat Journal.
"This proved to be a new record for for overnight minimum air temperature for September. The previous record was 15.0C (59.0F), recorded on September 3, 1999. The average maximum daytime air temperature for Wick in September is 14.4C (57.9F)."
The latest water scarcity situation report from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the environmental regulator, shows that Wick remains at "significant scarcity" for the sixth week in a row as a result of low water flows and dry ground conditions.
Thurso is still rated as "moderate scarcity", along with Orkney.
SEPA said: "With the dry, warm weather forecast to continue, and a relatively dry autumn possible, conditions are likely to deteriorate further in the weeks ahead. In the areas worst affected it will take a significant amount of rainfall before recovery is seen."
Mr Banks added: "The outstanding heat witnessed on Tuesday was the result of a large anticyclone centred off western Ukraine, feeding some very warm continental air across the British Isles."
As reported last week, Mr Banks's statistics show that the summer of 2021 was the town's driest since 1955.
Highlands and Islands Green MSP Ariane Burgess warned that droughts and other extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and that "it is an issue for us all".