We are being urged to be wise with our water use after a long spell of dry weather.

The Met Office says this year’s spring was the sunniest on record and one of the driest, and the reservoirs are certainly far lower than we’d normally expect at this time of year.

When taking the months of March, April and May into account, there were 694.1 hours of bright sunshine. This smashed the spring record of 630.6 hours set in 1975.

Records started in 1948 at Ronaldsway. An average spring would see 510.2 hours.

Spring 2020 saw only 78.7mm of rain, making it the driest since 1984 which recorded 71.7mm. The long term mean for spring is 172mm of rain.

The Met Office said last month was the driest May since 2008.

Manx Utilities says reservoir levels in the island have dropped due to the dry weather and several increases in water use, such as people washing their hands more often due to the pandemic.

A spokesman said the public should start thinking about supporting the likes of the fire service, which need water supply.

They said: ’People will need to be making priority choices in water use. We cannot live without drinking water and, as we are an island, we cannot ship it in.

’Sulby reservoir was built so this wouldn’t happen, but obviously the population dynamics have changed and everyone is at home.

’As we haven’t got TT this year we’ve not had a huge influx, so that’s a plus.’

In 2018, Manx Utilities issued a hosepipe ban in August due to low levels of water.

The ban meant domestic users could not use hose pipes for tasks such as watering gardens or washing the car. If they did, they would have faced a fine of up to £1,000.

Last month also gained the title of third sunniest May on record with 301 hours of bright sunshine.

It was beaten by May 1977 which had 303.6 hours of bright sunshine and May 1980 with 301.5 hours.

The sunniest day was on May 30 with an unbroken 15.2 hours.

The warmest day was the last day of the month when it reached 21.4°C at Ronaldsway.

There was a total rainfall of 20.9mm at Ronaldsway. The long term mean is 50.5mm.

The mean maximum temperature measured 15.2°C. This is over a degree above the May average, which is 14.1°C.

The mean wind speed of 11.8mph was only slightly below normal.