The water company said an "exceptionally dry" September, October and November had "raised the urgency of the situation".

BBC: 2011 is UK's second warmest year on record - Met Office

Axel Pawlik, managing director of RIPE which hands out net addresses in Europe, said he expected the entire stock to run dry in September 2011.

BBC: Net approaches address exhaustion

Though conditions improved in August and September, the dry spell has lingered in the western and southern parts of the country.

WSJ: Monsoon Rains Arrive Over India's Mainland

But tinder-dry conditions across much of the West have states bracing for a potentially explosive August and September.

NPR: Western United States Braces for More Wildfires

Last year, India received less rain in the first half of the June-September monsoon season than usual, hitting western India, which has endured a two year-long dry spell, particularly hard.

WSJ: Rains to Lash Drought-Hit Western India