England, Wales set for driest July since 1836: forecaster

England and Wales are on course for the driest July since records began nearly 200 years ago, the Met Office said on Friday, amid a prolonged heatwave and exceptionally low rainfall.

"With more than half of England and the entirety of Wales officially in drought, the month has been characterised by an exceptional combination of extreme heat, abundant sunshine and an almost complete absence of rainfall in some areas," the nation's meteorological agency said.

Some counties across England have seen less than one millimetre of rain during the entire month of July.

"Early provisional Met Office statistics, covering the period up to and including 30 July, show that both England and Wales are on course to record their driest July in 190 years," it added.

According to provisional statistics only 5.6 mm (0.22 inches) of rainfall was recorded in England in July so far, less than half of the previous record of 13.4 mm set in 1911.

In Wales, 7.9 mm of rainfall was recorded, almost a third of the 1911 record of 22.6 mm.

The emerging picture was one of "a truly exceptional July", the Met Office added.

Earlier this week, it said final readings for June showed the whole of the United Kingdom -- England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland -- had seen a daily temperature record for the month of 38C.

That was higher than the 37.7C figure previously reported.

Some of the Met Office's records stretch back as far as 1836.