{"id":8628,"date":"2022-08-17T08:09:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T08:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding"},"modified":"2022-08-17T08:14:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T08:14:11","slug":"thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding","title":{"rendered":"Thunderstorms: Why drought can lead to dangerous flooding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>After weeks of hot and dry conditions in most of the UK, with drought declared in parts of England, it might seem that a good downpour is what we need.<\/p>\n

But the heavy rainfall and thunderstorms forecast by the Met Office this week could instead be a hazard.<\/p>\n

Scientists are warning that they could lead to flash flooding and are unlikely to replenish dry soils.<\/p>\n

Here is why torrential rain may not be what our parched land needs right now.<\/p>\n

Flash flooding<\/b><\/p>\n

On top of two heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures this summer, many parts of the UK have seen far-below average rainfall.<\/p>\n

This has effectively baked the soils, leaving them dry and hard with very low moisture levels, the UK Centre for Hydrology and Ecology says.<\/p>\n

If rain falls in large amounts and at high speed, as happen in thunderstorms, the soil cannot absorb the moisture. Instead it pools on the surface. On sloped surfaces, that water rapidly runs off, causing flash flooding.<\/p>\n

The effect is like pouring water at high speed on to concrete, Dr Rob Thompson, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, told BBC News.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrounds of our gardens, parks and farmlands are now all potentially as dry as tarmac and concrete gets. Areas that aren\u2019t tarmac will behave like tarmac when rain hits them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The major effect drought has on soil is something called hydrophobicity, explains soil scientist Prof John Quinton, at the University of Lancaster.<\/p>\n

When water hits a waterproof jacket, it is repelled \u2013 making it form droplets on top and eventually run off.<\/p>\n

A similar thing happens when organic matter in the soil dries out, forming a layer of material that keeps out water.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of water moving into the soil, it stays on the surface instead,\u201d Prof Quinton says.<\/p>\n

\u2018Soil structure\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

It is also hard not to notice how the drought has killed off grasses and other vegetation, turning parks and fields yellow.<\/p>\n

These usually form a cover over soil, protecting it from heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n

\u201cVegetation breaks up big thunderstorm raindrops into smaller drops. Without that protection, the big drops damage the soil structure, meaning even less water can infiltrate,\u201d explains Prof Quinton.<\/p>\n

While the UK has lots of different types of soil, if it rains hard enough, the whole country is susceptible to flash flooding, explains Dr Thompson.<\/p>\n

Anywhere with steep-sided, hilly terrain, where water can move very quickly, is at particularly high risk.<\/p>\n

While it is unlikely to be as bad as the devastating flooding in Germany and Belgium last summer, suggests Dr Thompson, the potential is always there.<\/p>\n

Thunderstorms can deliver large amounts of rain but usually in a small area and a short spell. That does not give the soil enough time to recover.<\/p>\n

Scientists say that light rain over a number of hours and days will get soils back to more normal levels.<\/p>\n

But weeks of above-average rainfall is probably needed to bring an end to the drought.<\/p>\n

Scientists have said that the record-breaking temperatures seen in July would have been \u201cvirtually impossible\u201d without human-caused climate change, and that heatwaves and droughts are likely to become more extreme and commonplace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. After weeks of hot and dry conditions in most of the UK, with drought declared in parts of England, it might seem that a good downpour is what we need. But the heavy rainfall and thunderstorms forecast by the Met Office this week could instead be a hazard. Scientists are warning that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9],"tags":[291,293,292],"class_list":["post-8628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-sierra-leone","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\nThunderstorms: Why drought can lead to dangerous flooding - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After weeks of hot and dry conditions in most of the UK, with drought declared in parts of England, it might seem that a ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thunderstorms: Why drought can lead to dangerous flooding\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After weeks of hot and dry conditions in most of the UK, with drought declared in parts of England, it might seem that a ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-17T08:09:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-17T08:14:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_1-62fca33cbb8ab.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"976\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"549\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Thunderstorms: Why drought can lead to dangerous flooding\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-17T08:09:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-17T08:14:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding\"},\"wordCount\":546,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2022\/08\/postQueueImg_1-62fca33cbb8ab.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Sierra-Leone\",\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/thunderstorms-why-drought-can-lead-to-dangerous-flooding\",\"name\":\"Thunderstorms: Why drought can lead to dangerous flooding - 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