Much of southern and eastern England is officially in drought, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced February 20. Other parts of the country, including Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, have been in drought since 2011.

In order to prepare for what could be the worst drought since 1976, two major water companies will be sending out waterproof timers to encourage people to shorten their showers. After the second dry winter in a row, the areas in drought need 120 percent of their average rainfall over the next few months to end the drought before summer, but the Met Office, Britain’s weather forecasting authority, predicts the next few months will be dry.

“It’s not a case of whether we’ll be having a drought this year, it’s a case of when and how bad,” warned a spokesman from Thames Water.

“As sure as night follows day if it doesn’t rain, food prices will go up. I can guarantee you that,” said President of the National Farmers Union, Peter Kendall at the union’s conference, February 21. “If there is less water across bigger areas of northern Europe, food will cost more money.”

Meanwhile, Scotland has received its heaviest rainfall since records began 100 years ago, but there is no infrastructure to pipe it to the areas in need.

The Bible prophesies of these types of weather curses: drought in one city, floods in the next. For more information on what the Bible says about the weather, and the hard data that backs it up, request our booklet Why ‘Natural’ Disasters.