
Britain’s reservoirs have disappeared with vital water reserves on the brink of drying up after weeks of little rainfall and sweltering temperatures.
Temperatures soared to an unprecedented 40.2 °C (104.4 °F). London Heathrow Airport at 12.50pm today – making it the hottest day on record in the UK.
It comes as a hosepipe ban has been threatened as the heatwave continues to turn parks, beauty spots and fields into dust pots.
River levels are also at 30 per cent of normal levels, with farmers having to use a third more water and Brits being urged to take shorter showers after the lowest rainfall in parts of the UK in more than a quarter century.
And reservoirs across the UK are also suffering, with images showing dry patches after the hot weather spell.
Wayoh Reservoir in Entwistle, Bolton is one of many currently below capacity due to a lack of rainfall in recent weeks.
The site is typically filled with 500 million gallons of water and provides around 50 percent of Bolton’s drinking water.
But levels have come down so much that pictures today show it’s bone dry in parts.
Wayoh Reservoir in Entwistle, Bolton filled with water 11 years ago (left) compared to a photograph showing a dry site today (right)
Wayoh Reservoir is typically filled with 500 million gallons of water (left), but today’s images (right) tell a very different story
Thruscross reservoir in Harrogate on 21st August 2020 (left) looks very different compared to an image taken earlier today at the same location (right)
Another image of the Thruscross reservoir showing where the water was filled in August 2020 (left) compared to where it is today (right).
It’s a similar story near the village of West End near Harrogate, Yorkshire, where the Thruscross reservoir is partially depleted.
Pictures from today show a dry reservoir bed with visitors walking across the site.
Yorkshire Water, the regional utility, warned residents to use water wisely during the heatwave, adding that the area has experienced below-average rainfall since last autumn.
Before and after images at Woodhead Reservoir in West Yorkshire also show stark contrast, from vast green fields with a large body of water to dried brown grass and a dry bed.
A view of Woodhead Bridge on the A628 with Woodhead Reservoir filled with water in June 2019 (left), with a very different location pictured amid the heatwave today (right)
Wayoh Reservoir (left, May 2019 and right, today) illustrates the impact of hot weather on Britain’s water supply

forecaster at MetDesk created this map showing where the maximum temperatures are likely to be seen in the UK today

Highs of at least 40C are expected in England this afternoon – but could climb further to as high as 43C

Temperatures soared above 40C for the first time in Britain today, prompting rail chaos and school closures.
Mercury reached an unprecedented 40.2 °C (104.4 °F) at London Heathrow Airport at 12:50 p.m. – about an hour after a reading of 39.1 °C (102.4 °F) in Charlwood, Surrey, it surpassed the previous UK all-time high of 38.7 °C (101.7 °F). F) in Cambridge in July 2019. In third place is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) in Kent in August 2003 and 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) in Suffolk yesterday in fourth place .
Elsewhere in England the mercury was down to 39.9C (103.8F) at Charlwood, at Kew Gardens in west London, at 39.6C (103.3F), at Wisley by midday this afternoon rose to 39.3C (102.7F) in Surrey and to 39.2C (102.6F) in both Chertsey in Surrey and Northolt in west London – all of these readings also including the UK all-time high surpass by 2019.
Forecasters said an absolute maximum of 43C (109F) is possible later – and the highs in England today equate to the warmest places in all of Europe. The UK is also hotter than Jamaica, the Maldives and Barbados.
London Fire Brigade today declared a “major incident” in response to a huge increase in fires in the capital as they came under “immense pressure” with 15 fire engines and 100 firefighters alone dealing with the Wennington blaze.