Half of England in drought, Environment Agency says

A drought has been declared in half of England after record-low rain and high temperatures.

Seven areas of England are now officially in drought, the Environment Agency has said.

They are East Anglia; Hertfordshire and the whole of London; Thames Valley; Hampshire and the Isle of Wight; Devon and Cornwall; the West Midlands and Wessex (covering Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, and south Gloucestershire).

This follows record low rain and high temperatures.

It comes as the fourth heatwave of the year is set to peak on Wednesday with temperatures of up to 35C (95F), as experts warn wildfires could be "exceptionally severe".

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued an amber heat health alert for the East Midlands, the East, South East and London.

The alert is in place until 9am on Thursday with the agency warning that rising temperatures may increase health risks, particularly for vulnerable groups.

July has been 3C above average across the UK, according to provisional Met Office data, potentially putting it among the hottest three or four months of July on record.

Wales is on course for its driest July in nearly 190 years, data shows.

The dry conditions come after last year's drought summer, with the UK facing more extreme weather fuelled by human-caused climate change, mostly as a result of burning fossil fuels.

A Met Office assessment revealed fires could be exceptionally severe if they break out in parts of London, the South East and eastern England, as a result of the hot, dry conditions.

Fire chiefs warned the wildfire risk "remains elevated across the UK" and called for "everyone to play their part" to reduce the risk of incidents.

Emergency services in England and Wales have responded to 706 wildfires so far in 2026, with 208 incidents recorded between 16 and 28 July alone, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) said.

It added that the latest figures, which do not account for wildfires across the rest of the UK such as a major wildfire in the Cairngorms in Scotland, show "how quickly wildfire activity can increase during prolonged periods of hot and dry weather".

The NFCC said there were "currently eight live wildfire incidents being monitored through national reporting systems".

Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said firefighters were continuing to "make progress at the major wildfire incident at Tintwistle Moor" after 60 personnel were deployed on Tuesday.

NFCC chairman Phil Garrigan said: "More than 200 wildfires in just 12 days shows how quickly the risk can escalate when hot, dry conditions take hold.

"The scenes we're seeing across parts of Europe are a stark reminder of what a changing climate means for fire and rescue services.

"We are not seeing fires of that scale in the UK today, but the science tells us we should expect larger, more frequent and more complex wildfires in the future."

(c) Sky News 2026: Half of England in drought, Environment Agency says