Most of Scotland has been warned of drought conditions as we approach summer, with water levels in the north east now at “a historic low”.

A bone-dry April has put many parts of the country on course for their driest month ever, smashing records that have stood for 40 years.

Last night, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency gave the southern half of Scotland an “early warning” of water shortage and placed the north east on “alert”.

As this sunny month nears its end, the city of Edinburgh has officially registered just 1mm of rainfall since April 1, amounting to 0.25 of an inch.

George Anderson, presenter of television show The Beechgrove Garden said his garden gauge in the capital has not received a drop of rain in the past four weeks.

Nicky Maxey, of the Met Office, said: “There are certain areas of the country – like Scotland – where we might see the driest April on record.

“The driest month for eastern Scotland was in April 1980, when the region saw 12.3mm (half an inch) of rain.

“We still have less than a week to go, but the current total is just 6.5mm (quarter of an inch).”

Edinburgh’s prolonged dry spell is similarly remarkable. The rainfall figure to April 22 is just 1mm, meaning the capital has received 98 per cent less rain than usual for the month.

Aberdeenshire is also on track to record its driest-ever month, having received just 5.4mm of rainfall or just 8% of its normal April amount.

Mr Anderson said: “I was speaking to my cousin’s wife, who runs a farm in East Lothian. Great cracks are appearing in the ground, big enough to push your hand through.

“The rain gauge in my garden is showing no rain at all for April, nothing.

“Still, I would not be fooled by the recent sunny weather. It can still get pretty cold at night and I would not be putting out anything tender until the end of May.”

Scotland as a whole will find itself in the top five driest Aprils, but cannot equal the record set in 1974, when just 14.6mm of rain fell. The country as a whole has already received 17.9mm.

In its latest water scarcity report,

the Scottish Environment Protection Agency issued its first “alert” of the year for the north east, where it says water levels are at “a historic low.”

Much of southern and central Scotland has been handed an “early warning” of water scarcity.

The report said: “So far, April has been extremely dry across most of Scotland. This has affected river flows, which are widely quite low, and ground conditions, which are now quite dry throughout the country, particularly in the North-East of Scotland, where areas are in Alert.

“Groundwater levels are continuing to fall but are still around the long-term average in most areas, with the exception of the North-East of Scotland where levels are at an historic low.

“Therefore, this region is at higher risk of seeing drought conditions in early summer.

“Little rainfall is forecast over the next few days. Any prolonged dry weather will result in further reductions in river flow and groundwater levels, and drier ground conditions, over the coming weeks.

“Therefore, south and east Scotland is now in Early Warning.”

In the Highlands, the “shrinking” Loch Vaa, near Aviemore, has defied recent conditions and its level has reached a record high.

No-one can fathom why the level fluctuates so much, given there are no streams running in or out of it.

A spokesman for Scottish Water said: “Reservoir storage across Scotland is at 91%. We monitor levels closely year-round and have no concerns at the moment.”