Harry Low
BBC London News

Image source, PA Media

All of London is officially in drought, the National Drought Group says.

Temperatures could reach up to 37C (99F) this weekend as London experiences yet another heatwave following the driest July since 1935.

Just yesterday, London Fire Brigade said it had drafted in extra firefighters and staff in its call centre to deal with an expected increase in calls.

Thames Water has already announced an imminent hosepipe ban.

• London officially declared in drought

Farmers have been banned from taking water from the River Eden in Fife after it fell to a "critical" level, the second-lowest ever recorded.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said the majority of water abstraction licences would be suspended from midnight on Saturday.

The National Farmers Union said it was "devastating" for vegetable growers.

Sepa said the suspensions would be lifted as soon as possible.

Read more here.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service say they're dealing with a "large fire" in Studland Bay.

They add that they have "multiple appliances" at the scene and have warned the public to stay away.

The local Sandbanks ferry service has also been suspended.

Image source, @NinaLRoss/Twitter

Meanwhile, the London Fire Brigade say they've been called to a two-hectare grass fire on Leyton Flats - an area of greenery in east London.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Jenny Hill
Reporting from Rhineland-Palatinate

Image source, EPA

As Europe lives through a long, hot summer, one of the continent's major rivers is getting drier - posing major problems for the people and businesses that rely on it.

Captain Andre Kimpel casts an experienced, but worried, eye across the Rhine river in Germany, where water levels have dropped significantly in recent days.

Several ferry services in and around the town of Kaub have been forced to a standstill, but he's still carrying people and their cars across the water to the opposite bank - for now.

"It's no joke," he says as he navigates the water which sparkles in the summer sunshine. "We have 1.5m [5ft] of water and our boat sits 1.20m deep. So we have 30 centimetres of water left beneath us."

It's not unusual for water levels to drop here but, Captain Kimpel says, it's happening more frequently.

"We used to have a lot of floods. Now we have a lot of low waters."

Read more from Germany here.

In northeast England, a rare dust devil was spotted spinning through a rural area in County Durham on Thursday.

The footage was filmed by the County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue and shows the whirlwind blowing over a field following a wildfire in Durham County.

From all the pictures of parched fields, dusty soil and dried-up reservoirs, it might appear obvious there's a drought.

But from a scientific point of view, it's more complicated than that.

There's no one definition of drought - it's different depending on whether you look at weather, agriculture or water flow in rivers and streams.

And when it comes to declaring an "official" drought, government agencies look at how the long dry spell is affecting food production, water supplies and the environment.

That includes how much rivers and streams are shrinking, which puts wildlife and water supplies at risk. They also look at threats to crops and livestock if fields are turned into dust bowls.

Image source, .

One big indicator for drought is hydrology - the flow of water through rivers and the state of the water stored underground in permeable rocks beneath the soil.

Image source, Getty Images

Rivers are running at exceptionally low levels in much of southern England and Wales, including the River Yscir, Colne and Wye. There are reports of streams drying up and rivers shifting downstream. The amount of water stored in aquifers - the layer of spongy rock that soaks up water - is below normal for this time of the year.

Image source, Getty Images

Reservoirs are also running empty. At the end of July reservoirs were at their lowest levels in England and Wales since records began in 1990, according to the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

Image source, Getty Images

Experts warn the extreme weather will likely lead to smaller harvests, which will make the food we buy in the supermarkets even more expensive. Farmers say the soil is too dry for seeds to germinate.

Georgina Rannard
BBC News science reporter

Image source, EPA

If you live in one of the areas of England affected by drought, the most obvious first impact is likely to be a hosepipe ban. That prevents the use of hoses to water gardens, fill paddling pools or clean cars.

Each water company has a drought plan - as a drought gets worse, the severity of their actions increases.

If conditions become extreme, companies could ban non-essential water use. That might include watering plants with a watering can or cleaning windows.

It's possible that water rationing or cuts to water supply could be introduced - but most water companies consider this extreme and say they plan to never reach this level. Thames Water, external say this would involve a drought worse than any since 1920.

An important part of declaring a drought is sending a message that we should do our best to use less water. It’s hoped this reduces pressure on reserves.

There are ways you can save water - take a look at some suggestions below.

Image source, .

Bethany Bell
Reporting from the Gironde region

At Hostens, near Bordeaux, we’ve seen firefighters from Germany and Romania who have arrived to help the French emergency services. More teams from Austria and Poland are en route.

There’s a strong smell of smoke in the air and along the side of the road in the woods, you can see small wisps of smoke where fires are still smouldering. It’s a reminder of the huge blaze that is raging not far away.

It’s another brutally hot day, which is making conditions even harder for the firefighting crews.

Stéphanie Martin, press officer for the French fire brigade, told me she had never experienced fires like this: "It's exceptional," she said. "It makes you feel small."

She said some of the blazes currently being fought have been smouldering since July, in the peat-rich soil under the grass, which is yellow and patched.

While we've looked at the situation in parts of the UK, in Europe the situation seems just as dire. Extreme heat and persistent dry weather have led to lakes and rivers drying up, while wildfires have ignited in some parts.

The Rhine river in Germany is currently experiencing significantly low water levels, which has has had an impact on tourism and shipping in the region.

Image source, Reuters

South-western France has been dealing with extreme temperatures and wildfires for the best part of a month. In the Gironde region, wildfires have affected much of the landscape and firefighters have tackled large blazes.

Image source, Reuters

Meanwhile, Italy is experiencing its worst drought in 70 years, and it has led to a World War Two bomb being discovered in the dried up River Po in Borgo Virgilio.

Image source, Reuters

And in Spain, a drone picture shows the tail of the Yesa reservoir in Navarra. The Aragon river is practically without water.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Wildlife will be more closely monitored and farmers may have restrictions placed on crop- growing as drought is declared in parts of England, the director of operations for the Environment Agency says.

John Curtin tells the BBC the drought is likely to continue for a long time.

Storms are expected next week, but they will be intense and short - and he says it will take more than that to solve the issue.

England needs a lot of water to top up reservoirs, Curtain says, adding there would need to be an "above rainfall for autumn and winter".

Image source, .

The Environment Agency has confirmed that eight of its 14 areas are officially experiencing drought.

These are:

• Devon and Cornwall
• Solent and South Downs
• Kent and South London
• Herts and North London
• East Anglia
• Thames
• Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire
• East Midlands

The change in drought status doesn't automatically trigger actions itself, the agency says, but water companies will step up to manage the impact of the water shortage and roll out their agreed drought plans - which could include measures like hosepipe bans.

Image source, Diyora Shadijanova/PA Wire

A drought can mean a whole “cascade of effects”, says Tom Oliver, professor of applied ecology at the University of Reading.

He tells the BBC that the word “drought” itself can refer to four different phenomena:

• Meteorological drought describes less than average rainfall - which has particularly been the case in southern England
• This in turn has an impact on the water system, causing low levels in rivers and lakes: a hydrological drought
• An agricultural drought comes about when there is a significant negative impact on crops - and even the likes of maize suffers
• All of the above can contribute to an ecological drought: affecting fish and molluscs - but also insects and birds that eat them

Prof Oliver adds “significant amounts” of rain may be needed to recharge the water system fully - but that humans’ extraction of water can “make things worse”.

The public and businesses in drought-affected areas should be "very mindful of the pressures on water resources" and use water wisely, the Environment Agency says in a statement.

But water companies should act to reduce leakage and fix leaking pipes as quickly as possible, as well as taking wider action, the government agency says.

All water companies have reassured the government that essential supplies are still safe, Water Minister Steve Double says, after a drought was declared in many large parts of England.

"We have made it clear it is their duty to maintain those supplies," he says.

The government is already taking action to manage the impacts of the drought, Double says, as parts of the country endured the driest July on record.

Justin Rowlatt
BBC Climate editor

Image source, PA Media

It’s official, much of England is now in drought - but the decision is no surprise.

Many areas have received no significant rainfall all summer and we’re now in the midst of the season’s second blistering heatwave.

Turning the dial to drought sounds dramatic, and that’s the idea. The hope is it will help convince the public to use water more wisely.

And climate scientists say we need to prepare ourselves for more of this.

The fingerprint of humanity was clearly visible in the record temperatures the UK experienced in late July, according to leading scientists.

They say it would have been “almost impossible” without human-induced climate change.

And they say it is a taste of what is to come. The science shows heatwaves are going to become more frequent and more intense as the world’s climate continues to warm.

The science is simple, but it is worth restating here.

Burning fossil fuels – still humanity’s main source of energy – produces carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide traps the heat of the sun in the atmosphere, driving up temperatures.

The world has already warmed by around 1.1C since the industrial revolution, pushing the earth into the warmest period for 125,000 years, according to the UN.

As we've just heard, a drought has been declared across large swathes of England.

It covers parts of the South West, parts of southern and central England, and the east of England.

Each water company has their own drought plan, which will likely involve a hosepipe ban and could lead to more extreme measures like banning non-essential water use.

Parts of England are officially experiencing a drought, the government announces.

Vast areas of Great Britain have been affected by prolonged dry conditions.

It's led parched land to turn from green to yellow and brown - as this satellite image released by the Met Office shows.

Image source, PA Media

No, says Barbara Young, who’s a Labour peer and former chief executive of the Environment Agency.

“Reservoirs are an important part of the mix in terms of improving water supply, but they should be a last resort rather than a first resort”, she tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

She adds there has been “staggeringly slow” progress in other measures such as leakage control and reducing individual water usage through metering and better water efficiency in buildings and white goods.

The regulator needs to be firmer with water companies and the government also needs to set statutory, not regulatory, standards, Young says.

Image source, .

The RSPCA says it receives many calls about animal welfare during the summer, particularly when it’s very hot.

On warm days, you should never leave animals in cars, conservatories, outbuildings or caravans, even if just for a short while. When it's 22C outside, temperatures can quickly rise to 47C in these environments, the RSPCA says, which can be deadly.

The charity recommends walking dogs in the morning or evening when it's cooler, reducing risk of heatstroke or burning their paws on the pavement.

People should also check sheds and greenhouses before closing them as cats can find their way into warm areas if they're looking for a cosy spot, but could get too hot or dehydrated if they get trapped.

Other tips from the RSPCA, external for keeping your pets safe and happy in hot weather include:

• Using a pet-safe sun cream on exposed parts of their skin
• Making sure they have shade
• Giving them constant access to fresh water
• Putting ice cubes in their water bowl
• Giving them damp towels to lie on