The pre-war Drought - 1913 to 1914

Summer 1911 was very dry and also hot, but by contrast summer 1912 saw record-breaking amounts of rain. In 1913 the summer saw even less rain than 1911, but it was nothing like as warm. December/January 1913/14 were rather dry, allowing limited seasonal recharge, and later in 1914 it was September and October that were notably dry, followed by a marked recovery during the winter.

Drought terminated gradually in north-east and central England but abruptly in Anglian region, where gradual recoveries are more prevalent in the historical record.

The groundwater drought of 1913-1914 was localised, limited primarily to the north and east of England, and had limited effect on supressing groundwater levels in those regions, particularly where groundwater levels were relatively high in the preceding winter of 1912-13, e.g. at Dalton Holme). The groundwater drought is expressed most clearly in the hydrograph for Dalton Holm in the Chalk of Yorkshire and in the eastern Chilterns at Thirfield Rectory, but is absent from the southern Chalk, for example at Compton House. The groundwater drought intensified through the summer and autumn of 1914 in response to the lack of recharge during the dry winter and spring of 1913-1914.

_{Western Daily Press, 9th July 1921, page 5.}