Drought conditions were declared by the Environment Agency on Wednesday for seven areas of England.
This includes East Anglia; Hertfordshire and the whole of London; Thames Valley; Hampshire & the Isle of Wight; Devon & Cornwall; the West Midlands and Wessex (covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, and south Gloucestershire).
Paired with the significant heat, the lack of rain means dry ground and low soil moisture levels continue to be of concern.
By Friday and into the weekend, pressure will build across the southern half of the UK prolonging the dry spell further, despite a few showers in the north.
An ongoing lack of rain means hosepipe bans are in force for millions of households and dry vegetation has provided fuel for wildfires to burn in a number of areas.
According to the Met Office, rainfall in England this month is at 4.4mm, one of the lowest levels on record – tied with June 1925 and behind only February 1891 when 3.3mm were recorded.
Wisley in Surrey has been one of the driest locations in south-east England, clocking up 42 days of no rain as of 29 July.
Rainfall levels in Wales, where drought was triggered in parts last week, are so low that July 2026 is currently the fourth driest of any month since records began.
