A swathe of England stretching from its western, Atlantic shore to the North Sea was declared officially in drought on Wednesday.
The regions suffering most from the combined heatwave and lack of rain cover half of the country.
Some parts of the drought area have exceeded 50 days without rain as a flash drought has followed a dry spring and wet winter. Metrologists have called the swift change in circumstances “climate whiplash”.
The Environment Agency said the consequences were rivers running low, farmers having to harvest crops early, increasing wildfire risk, and millions of people living with hosepipe bans and other restrictions on water use.
The seven areas in drought conditions are East Anglia; Hertfordshire and London; Thames Valley; Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; Devon and Cornwall; West Midlands and Wessex (covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, and south Gloucestershire).
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The dried bed of Howden Reservoir, central England, which is at only 48 per cent of its storage capacity. EPA -
This aerial image shows the scorched grass surrounding the area at Stonehenge near Amesbury, Wiltshire in south-west England. AFP -
A drone view shows golfers playing on a parched fairway at Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club. Reuters -
Escaping the hot sun in the dry grass of Green Park as temperatures rise in London. EPA -
Sun-scorched grassland around St Albans Cathedral. Reuters -
People make their way along a path through the parched grass of Primrose Hill in London. AFP -
The exposed riverbed of the Thames after it dried up in Ashton Keynes, about 10km from its source. Reuters -
Dry conditions in Bray, west of London. AFP -
Scorched grassland and smoke rising from the Tintwistle Moor wildfire, near Glossop. Reuters -
A person walks through parched parkland in Greenwich, London. EPA -
People walk through dry grass across Leyton Flats in east London. EPA -
Low water levels at Walthamstow Wetlands, London. EPA
“The hot and dry weather means we are currently using water faster than nature can replenish it,” said Helen Wakeham, director of water at the Environment Agency. “A second consecutive summer drought is an exceptionally serious situation and one that will have long-lasting impacts on our environment, wildlife and the economy.
“We want everyone to stay safe and hydrated during the hot weather but every drop we can save is a drop more for nature and agriculture.”
A cross-government task force has been launched to secure supplies into the autumn, which will include more work to prevent leaks.
Climate change
Environment minister Emma Hardy said: “Our climate is changing, droughts are becoming increasingly common, and we need to be prepared for this new normal.”
The current drought is the third in the past five years, after ones in 2022 and last year.
The dramatic shift in this year's UK weather – from a very wet winter to an exceptionally hot and dry summer – is causing turmoil in managing basic utilities.
On the plus side, the winter rainfall helped to replenish reservoirs and groundwater, which help during the dry spring. But there has been a deterioration in reserves during the summer.
July so far has experienced just 7 per cent of expected rain, falling to 1 per cent across southern England, and there is no substantial rainfall forecast.
Officials said three heatwaves and a fourth beginning on Wednesday, including 12 consecutive days of temperatures above 30C, means water stores have begun to deplete. The higher temperatures also mean water is evaporating from soil and vegetation, making wildfires more likely.
Many areas have received very little or no rainfall in July, extending a period of below-average rainfall that has persisted across parts of the country since spring.
On June 23, the national electric grid came perilously close to collapse. A whistleblower has said that only a phone call to France from the National Energy System Operator for interconnector supplies prevented power cuts.
The constant sunshine has boosted solar power when the national grid is short of other energy sources to smooth out daily capacity patterns.
In the first three months of this year, renewables were 53.1 per cent of UK energy generation and 45.5 per cent of the EU total.
Across northern Europe, grid management is becoming more complex, especially during what is known in German as Hitzeflaute (heat lull) – high temperatures and low wind – conditions that can cause extreme grid volatility.
The significant fluctuations mean some generators are having to accept negative power prices during peak solar hours.
