CANAL & RIVER TRUST admits that 400 miles of its waterways are closed.
This of course is mainly due to the lack of rainfall and the resulting low water levels in its reservoirs, Janet Friend reports.
Huge sections of waterways are now closed, with even the recent rainfall over many days having little effect owing the the parched ground soaking up such rainfall.
Running dry
The trust tells that several of its feeder reservoirs are running dry, with the Peak Forest and Macclesfield group just 11% full.
Other reservoirs are in similar conditions with huge swathes of waterways at present unavigable or under sever restrictions, to help conserve the limited water that remains.