Mapped: Where drought has been declared in the UK as another heatwave looms

Mapped: Where drought has been declared in the UK as another heatwave looms Parts of England already struggling with prolonged dry weather could be plunged into drought - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Almost three-quarters of England is now suffering from drought as weather conditions continue to worsen into August, piling pressure onto vital industries. Officials from the National Drought Group assessed on Monday that 71.3 per cent of the country is now in drought, with the addition of the East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and Solent and the South Downs bringing the number of people affected up to 45 million nationwide. The North East and Yorkshire have moved to prolonged dry weather – the stage before drought – with nowhere now deemed in normal status, and 27 million people are currently living under restrictions on water use, they said. Tony Grayling, strategic drought lead at the Environment Agency and chair of the National Drought Group, said: “Drought conditions are worsening and will continue to do so until we see significant and sustained rainfall. We know the hot and dry weather is taking a real toll on farming and there will be long-lasting impacts on our environment.” The drought continues to pile pressure onto farming, freight shipping and energy production after the country saw its driest July in 190 years. August has so far seen just five per cent of the expected rainfall for the month, with warnings of more dry weather and highs of 36C to follow this week. A drought usually refers to a period of prolonged, unusually dry weather that affects nature, the environment, and people. Where droughts have been declared: In July, 19 counties across England recorded effectively no rainfall – 1mm or less – across the whole of the month, the Met Office figures show, causing river levels to fall and leaving ground dry and at risk of wildfires. It comes as firefighters have worked through the night to tackle a wildfire in the New Forest, where drought has already been declared. Smoke plumes were visible for miles after a van caught fire on the A31 near Ringwood, Hampshire, at about 5.30pm and the flames spread to heathland, forcing some motorists to abandon their vehicles. The summer of extreme weather has seen two record-breaking heatwaves, in May and June, which led to more than 2,800 excess deaths, and two more heatwaves in July which have fuelled drought and wildfires. But the hot weather is set to continue as temperatures are forecast to soar into the mid-30s across the country on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Yellow heat health alerts issued by the UK Health Security Agency are in place for the East Midlands, West Midlands, South East, South West, East of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, and London. The alerts continue until 9pm on Tuesday, but may well be extended as the hot weather continues. Meanwhile, the Met Office is considering issuing rare extreme heat warnings ahead of the scorching temperatures forecast later in the week. “We sometimes issue extreme heat warnings, amber and red warnings, which we did back in June, so that’s under consideration at the moment,” Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said. More than 25 million people have restrictions on water use, the Environment Agency said, with millions under hosepipe bans, including all South East Water and Thames Water customers. Green Party leader Zack Polanski criticised prime minister Andy Burnham for failing to convene a meeting of the Cobra crisis committee to deal with the impact of the summer heatwave and drought. He said: “This is the greatest crisis this country has faced since the Second World War and to complacently dismiss the demands for immediate action by saying everything is under control is gross negligence, blatantly untrue and misses the severity of the crisis.” Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Comments