Andrea Ormsby
Reporting from Launceston, Cornwall

On the edge of the River Tamar in Launceston on the Cornwall and Devon border you can really see the impact the lack of rainfall has had.

It hasn’t rained here in weeks. The river is lower than anyone can remember and the Environment Agency say fish will be starting to really struggle with the heat and a lack of oxygen in the water.

This is just one of the areas across the country where a drought has been declared, and staff from the Environment Agency are here with a remote controlled boat to test the water levels and come up with a plan of action.

The Agency’s Drought Lead for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly says: “I would predict in years to come that water will become the most valuable thing on the planet.”

Having seen how low this river is I will definitely be turning my taps off a lot quicker from now on.

Image source, Derbyshire fire and rescue

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Rachel Bennett has been telling BBC Breakfast about the UK really starting to see the impacts of climate change.

On the banks of the Ladybower Reservoir there was a fire last month which took five days to put out.

Rachel says the extreme heat is having an impact on local environments and on nature.

"We are stood here in the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District... These are really precious peatlands that store a lot of carbon in those peat soils.

"The landscape is becoming so much more susceptible to fire.

"That is because we have been getting these extremes of heat and drought conditions occurring more and more.

"There was a fire that week we had those really high temperatures [in July] and the impact on wildlife that we saw here is that of complete and utter devastation."

Sarah Rogers
Reporting from Derbyshire

Derbyshire is one of the eight areas of England where an official drought has been declared.

At the Ladybower Reservoir the sunshine is out, the cyclists are out and the walkers are out. We have even seen some anglers too.

It does though seem strange to be stood in front of such a really lovely vast expanse of water talking about drought.

But you can see that the banks are exposed and the reservoir is at around 50% capacity - the reservoir behind it, just a few miles away, is at 15% capacity.

These are not normal summer levels and there will be an impact on wildlife and nature.

Earlier Harvey Bradshaw, the National Drought Group's chair, told us how farmers are under real pressure because of the dry weather.

In Somerset, hay prices are rising, winter feed is having to be used now and some farmers are selling livestock as they can no longer afford to feed them.

Cattle farmer Rachel Horler, who has been farming for 20 years, says she has not known anything "quite like this".

She says: "We are now having to start to feed [baled silage] in early August when normally we would only begin to feed it beginning of October."

You can read more about the steps farmers are taking here.

Vast areas of Great Britain have been affected by the recent 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

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

Rain is in the forecast next week, but it'll be the "wrong" kind and could lead to some localised flash flooding and not really alleviate drought conditions.

With low pressure moving in, we'll get showers and thunderstorms scattered across the UK. The ground however is parched, and this makes a difference to what happens when the rain hits it.

In a normal summer when the ground is green and moist, water can easily soak into it. When it is parched and hard, rainfall - especially heavy rain with thunderstorms - tends to hit the ground and run off.

With rainfall running off the surface - in the same way it does with concrete - it is more likely to produce a flash flood. It also means that the rainfall is transported quickly into streams and rivers rather than filtering into the ground where it landed.

So rather than scattered heavy showers, the "right" kind of rain we need is from the more persistent and steady type. This gives the parched ground more time to soak up the rainfall before it disappears into the nearest drain or river.

To go further and alleviate drought conditions we'll need weeks of rainfall to bring the reservoirs and river levels back up to normal.

This is not in the forecast, however - so there are concerns that drought issues may persist well into the autumn in some locations.

Image source, PA Media

A bit more now from the National Drought Group chair Harvey Bradshaw who believes we may need to re-think how we use water in the future.

It follows recent hosepipe bans in some parts of England.

Bradshaw says: "As you run into ever drier conditions you take more serious actions to conserve the water you have and we are on that process now.

"We are in close contact with farmers and our area teams have a very good relationship with them and we try and help wherever we can.

"For example, if a farmer is under utilising their supply we are putting them in contact with other farmers that could use that water.

"We're allowing farmers to take water from rivers as and when we get sort of heavy bursts of rain. So we're trying to be as flexible as we can.

"But the bottom line is there isn't much water around."

Image source, .

Image source, PA Media

Harvey Bradshaw chairs the National Drought Group - the one which declared the official droughts in eight parts of England yesterday.

He's been telling Radio 4's Today programme about the seriousness of the situation.

He said we have had in parts, the driest July ever recorded and looking over the last 12 months nearly every month we have had below average rainfall, low levels or exceptionally low levels.

"So there is real stress in the environment and people are suffering - farmers for example."

Image source, Jason Hawkes

Image source, Jason Hawkes

Photographer Jason Hawkes has more than 30 years' experience of shooting from the sky, typically capturing aerial snaps once or twice a week.

This week as London - like many areas in the southern half of the UK - endures another heatwave he's been capturing the capital from another perspective.

"I don't think I've seen a summer when the grass in the parks is literally yellow like this," he says.

"It's pretty amazing how green the trees are - that's equally surprising to me bearing in mind how hot it has been and how little rain there's been."

You can see more of Jason's photographs here.

Image source, Jason Hawkes

A large fire on heathland in Dorset yesterday appears to have been started by a disposable barbecue, but is now largely under control, a firefighter says.

Jason Moncrief, area manager for Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There can’t be many people left in Britain that don’t know that the advice at the moment is don’t use a barbecue at places such as Studland Heath.

"Bring a picnic, use our local cafes, restaurants and takeaways."

He says he's seen fires started by disposal barbecues being put in bins while they are still hot, or being placed too close to hedges and setting them alight.

And he says there's “a massive difference” compared with last summer.

“The first 10 days of August this year versus last year we’ve had 492% more of these types of fires – field fires, grass fires, heathland fires, all those sorts of fires in the open.

“We are massively stretched."

Image source, PA Media

Following yesterday's drought announcement a senior Environment Agency (EA) figure warned it would take "weeks' worth of rain" to replenish water sources.

Some areas have been almost completely deprived of rainfall all summer, prompting the National Drought Group to move parts of the South West, parts of southern and central England, and the East of England into official drought status.

The announcement could lead to more measures such as hosepipe bans - however, the EA has reassured the public that essential water supplies are safe.

John Curtin, executive director for local operations for EA, said "this is not a normal summer" and thinks everyone should be thinking about using water wisely as it "will probably be an issue for months ahead depending how the winter goes".

"We’ve lost a week’s worth of rain and it’ll take weeks of rain, we’ll need probably average or slightly above average rainfall this autumn into this winter for us to not be in a drought next year.”

Thanks for joining our live coverage of the current UK heatwave.

More extreme heat is expected in the southern half of the UK this weekend, as the Environment Agency warns England's drought could last into the next year.

The Met Office has issued an amber heat warning for most of England and Wales - temperatures of up to 34C are predicted for today and tomorrow.

An official drought has been declared in eight areas of England by the National Drought Group.

Three water companies - Welsh Water, Southern Water, and South East Water - have all imposed hosepipe bans.

Yorkshire Water has announced a ban will start on 26 August and Thames Water is planning one in the coming weeks.

Stay with us for the latest updates.