Another weekend, another heatwave.
Not a cloud in the clear blue sky. ‘It’s almost like being abroad,’ people have been saying. And temperatures in York have outdone those in Jamaica this week.
But alongside the prolonged sunshine, there has been a distinct lack of something else. Rain.
An official drought was declared in eight areas of the UK last week. And although Yorkshire wasn’t one of them, Yorkshire Water said it would bring in a hosepipe ban from 26 August.
The lack of rainfall is evident across York. Grass in our green and verdant parks has changed to shades of yellow and brown, while rivers, lakes and ponds are stagnating.
It hasn’t looked like this for years. Those with longer memories are reminded of the famously hot summer of 1976.
Rain is forecast – York and North Yorkshire are included in a yellow thunderstorm warning from the Met Office for two days from tomorrow (Monday).
But it will take more than a heavy shower to turn things back to normal. Meanwhile, here are some of the images of a parched York after a hot and dry summer.
