London: To the casual observer, Britain — an island nation that's no stranger to rain — could not get much wetter.

But, as it turns out, that's a fallacy. And if preventive steps are not taken, in less than three decades, Britain might run out of water, the chief executive of the Environment Agency, a public body responsible for conservation in England, said on Tuesday.

Parched grass from the lack of rain on Parliament Square, backdropped by the scaffolded Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, during what was the driest summer for many years in London in 2018. Credit:AP

"On the present projections, many parts of our country will face significant water deficits by 2050, particularly in the southeast, where much of the UK population lives," the agency chief, James Bevan, said at a conference on water use.

In about 20 to 25 years, demand could close in on supply in what Bevan called "the jaws of death — the point at which, unless we take action to change things, we will not have enough water to supply our needs."