Sharjah24 – AFP: France and parts of England saw their driest July on record, the countries' weather agencies said on Monday, exacerbating stretched water resources that have forced restrictions on both sides of the Channel.
In France, where an intense drought has hammered farmers and prompted widespread limits on freshwater use, there was just 9.7 millimetres (0.38 inches) of rain last month, Meteo France said.
That was 84 percent down on the average levels seen for July between 1991 and 2022, and made it the second driest month since March 1961, the agency added.
Meanwhile swathes of southern and eastern England recorded the lowest rainfall in July on record, the UK's Met Office.
The whole of England recorded an average of 23.1 mm of rain -- the lowest figure for the month since 1935 and the seventh lowest July total on record, it said.
The Met Office has been compiling records since 1836.
The low rainfall in both countries has been coupled with a summer of unprecedentedly high temperatures, which topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in England last month for the first time ever.
Climate scientists overwhelmingly agree that carbon emissions from humans burning fossil fuels are heating the planet, raising the risk and severity of droughts, heatwaves, and other extreme weather events.
Analysis by an international team of researchers released last Friday found climate change caused by human activity made the recent record-shattering UK heatwave at least 10 times more likely to occur.
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