Rain is on the way – but some of the UK’s driest areas still won’t see a drop

July was southern England’s driest month ever recorded, with the whole of Wales and half of England plunged into drought. But the South East will continue to see little in the way of desperately needed rain, the Met Office has warned. In July, 19 counties across England recorded effectively no rainfall – 1mm or less – across the whole of the month, the Met Office figures show. In the latest heat spike, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has amber heat health alerts in place for the East Midlands, East of England, South East and London until Wednesday morning. Fires in Suffolk have left the landscape charred (Picture: Reuters)There are also yellow heat health alerts for the North West, South West, West Midlands, and Yorkshire and The Humber.