England and Wales record driest July, Met Office says

England and Wales had their driest July on record, the UK Met Office said, citing provisional figures after a month of extreme dryness, warmth and sunshine.

The weather agency said England recorded 6.5 millimetres of rain in July, 10 percent of its usual average, while Wales recorded 9.3 mm. It said little rain was forecast for the following week.

Southern England had its driest month ever recorded in data going back to 1836, with 1.9 mm of rainfall, or three percent of the average, the Met Office said. London and its suburbs were among 19 English regions with no more than one millimetre of rain last month.

The last three months all had below-average monthly rainfall. Helen Wakeham, chairperson of the National Drought Group, said the effects were being seen on farmers, wildlife and water available for public and business use.

Water companies in parts of England and Wales have imposed bans on using hosepipes for household tasks and watering plants.

The Met Office also said July was the sunniest month ever observed in Britain and the second hottest July on record for the United Kingdom overall. Wales had its joint hottest July, with a mean temperature of 17.8C, a level also recorded in 2006 and 1983.

Met Office science manager Amy Doherty said July 2026 had brought “record-breaking dryness, exceptional warmth and unprecedented sunshine”.

The UK Health Security Agency said last week that record-breaking heatwaves in May and June led to an estimated 2,877 excess deaths in England. It issued an amber health warning for four regions, including London, warning of increased risk to people over 65 or with pre-existing health conditions.

National Farmers' Union president Tom Bradshaw told Sky News that the harvest was finished at the start of August, calling it one of the earliest on record and saying yields were a third lower than normal.