England: Several parts of country officially declared drought-hit amid lack of rainfall

Parts of south-west, southern and central, and east England have all been officially declared to be in a drought. UK's National Drought Group has formally declared a drought due to the country's protracted dry conditions, which have resulted in some regions not receiving much rain throughout the summer.

For many areas of England and Wales, the Met Office has issued a four-day amber heat warning. Rivers, reservoirs, and aquifers have been depleted as a result of ongoing dry conditions and July's record-breaking heatwave. Eight of the Environment Agency's regions, including Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent and South London, Hertfordshire and North London, East Anglia, Thames, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, and the East Midlands, were declared to as drought-hit.

Earlier this summer, the group met to discuss the lack of rainfall and decided to place the country in "prolonged dry weather status," the first of four emergency dry weather stages and one step before drought. The country has now entered the second stage.

Water rationing to be implemented across country

The official declaration means that water rationing could be implemented across the country, with fewer obstacles for water companies looking to prohibit customers from using hosepipes or washing their cars with tap water. At this stage, more severe measures can be implemented, such as prohibiting the use of sprinklers in the cleaning of buildings, vehicles, and windows.

Southern Water and South West Water have already banned hosepipes this year. Welsh Water and Yorkshire Water will impose bans starting on August 19 and August 26, respectively. A hosepipe ban has also been announced by Thames Water as being "ready to go."

The meeting attendees were also shown distressing data regarding England's food security. Since potatoes cannot be irrigated, half of the crop is anticipated to fail, and even crops that typically tolerate drought, like maize, have been struggling. According to the information provided to the group, "irrigation options are diminishing with reservoirs being emptied fast," and losses of 10% to 50% are predicted for crops like hops, apples, sugar beet, carrots, and onions."

(Image: AP)