North Korea suffers worst drought in nearly 40 years amid food shortage fears

North Korea says it is suffering its worst drought in nearly four decades amid growing concerns that the country is dangerously short of food.

Just 54.4mm (2.1in) of rain fell across the country in the first four months of this year, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The state-run news organisation said the total amounted to about 42.3% of normal rainfall.

Previously, the worst figure recorded was 51.2mm (2in) over the same period in 1982.

In the UK, for comparison, there was 63.6mm of rainfall in January alone.

The current drought is expected to continue until the end of May, according to KCNA.

Attempts are being made to find new water sources and minimise damage to the country's struggling agriculture industry, according to local media.