ENVIRONMENT bosses have warned of a potential water shortage in Helensburgh and Lomond - despite a forecast for wetter weather over the next few days.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) says the water scarcity situation is "deteriorating fast" - and has urged businesses to pay urgent attention to the growing threat and take action.

The Met Office forecast for the coming days in Helensburgh is predicting cooler and cloudier weather and a greater chance of showers.

But SEPA says that any short periods of intense rain "will be unlikely to help water levels recover sufficiently".

The environment watchdog says that if there is no recovery in river levels, 28 out of 83 areas in Scotland will be at 'significant' water scarcity level by June 30.

Some areas have reached 'significant' and 'moderate' scarcity - the two highest levels.

Helensburgh itself, and the Rosneath peninsula, remain at 'alert' level - the third highest - but inland areas towards Loch Lomond and around Arrochar are now at 'moderate scarcity'.

To the east, most of urban west central Scotland, including West Dunbartonshire and Glasgow, are now also at 'moderate scarcity' level.

The environment watchdog has warned that the severity of the situation means they are now considering whether to suspend 'abstraction licences' - which allow water to be extracted from the ground - for businesses such as farms in the worst affected areas, most of them in the south-west.

Nathan Critchlow-Watton, head of water and planning at SEPA, said: "The situation is deteriorating fast, and we strongly urge those abstracting water from the environment to be aware of the immediate risk and follow our advice and guidance.

“Last year, we warned a decrease in summer rainfall may exert pressure on areas that have not experienced water scarcity before, and that’s now happening.

"It is vitally important that Scotland is prepared to deal with water scarcity both now and in the future and people work together to plan for and manage water scarcity events.”