England and Wales face driest July in 190 years amid heatwave, Met Office reports

July is shaping up to be the driest month recorded in England and Wales in 190 years, the UK's Met Office has announced. Preliminary figures indicate that this July could rank among the driest in the nearly two centuries for which meteorological records have been kept.

Emily Carlisle, a researcher at the Met Office, noted in a press release that this situation is particularly striking given the exceptional heat experienced this summer. She also pointed out that some regions have received virtually no rainfall throughout July.

Across the UK, the month is on track to be the third driest July on record. For England specifically, it is the driest July since 1868, with only 5.6 millimeters of rain measured. The previous record for England was set in 1911, with 13.4 millimeters. Southern England has been especially dry, recording just 1.5 millimeters of rain by July 30. In Wales, 7.9 millimeters of rain have fallen, also making it a record-breaking dry July, surpassing the previous record from 1911 when 22.6 millimeters were recorded.

Scotland stands out as the only part of the UK not facing a top-ten driest July, having received 72 percent of its average rainfall. The summer has also been marked by heatwaves, with the Met Office confirming earlier this week that temperatures across the UK reached 38 degrees Celsius in June.