IT'S only April and already Suffolk already has drought conditions – and that's official.Rain has not fallen in the region for 29 days and the forecast is that the dry spell is set to continue.

IT'S only April and already Suffolk already has drought conditions – and that's official.

Rain has not fallen in the region for 29 days and the forecast is that the dry spell is set to continue.

While everyone loves the dry weather, as it allows the washing to dry on the line and the gardeners to tend their gardens, the land is in desperate need for watering.

The warm spell even saw the early arrival of the spring daffodils.

To be in a State of Drought there has to have been no rainfall for 15 days and in our region we have nearly doubled this benchmark.

Evening Star weatherman Ken Blowers said: "The last time we had a reasonable worthwhile down pour was on March 18 but that was only a quarter of an inch.

"It's been 29 days since we've had any appreciable rain and unfortunately the outlook is for more dry days ahead."

Remaining dry for such a long period is rare at this time of the year which is renowned for its April showers.

Looking back, the last dry spell of any significance was last summer.

"The was a period of drought from June 18 to July 5 last year. The land saw no rain for 17 days.

"You can see that 29 days is a very long time to go without rain and is very rare indeed," said Mr Blowers.

There is no need to panic yet and conditions are not so bad to see water restrictions in place, but if the trend continues for much longer it won't be long before we see a hose pipe ban.