Seven areas of central, eastern and southern England are now officially in drought following record low rain and high temperatures, the Environment Agency has said.
The seven areas are: East Anglia; Hertfordshire and the whole of London; Thames Valley; Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; Devon and Cornwall; the West Midlands and Wessex (covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, and south Gloucestershire).
July saw 7% of the expected levels of rainfall, with just 1% across southern England. Helen Wakeham, director of water at the Environment Agency and chair of the National Drought Group, said: "The hot and dry weather means we are currently using water faster than nature can replenish it."
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