From the Downs today to show the colour of the Sussex Weald

It was fascinating to see how dry it was and the changes to the vegetation on the journey.  The area to the North of Maidstone was the worst - whole trees and not just the usual suspects going brown in parts and everywhere looking like Autumn. Goodness knows what it will look like if the current forecasts are accurate and there's no significant rain for another few weeks. 

Back home in South Wales its brown in places but still green in the shade of the hedge banks.

It’s interesting to see the gradations of drought. I just returned from Burgundy to the UK and, remarkably, it’s noticeably greener here. Yes the SE is looking pretty parched but there are still some birch trees with green leaves, some long grass retains a bit of greenishness, and the weeds and brambles haven’t given up.  In Saone et Loire it’s rapidly approaching Hollywood Mexico territory. 

Certainly looking like the St Swithins day prophecy might actually be correct for once, at least down here in some parts of the South. Maybe would be a first from a no-rain perspective, or one of a very few.

I'm curious to see how the insurance industry reacts to the inevitable claims for structural issues. Seasonal soil shrinkage and expansion is not technically subsidence, so wouldn’t typically be covered by most policies, even in the extreme.  

Is it an incredible run, isn't it? Luckily I'm on gravel/sand but that didn't prevent a sinkhole appearing the other year from a leaking water main outside the house. All the new houses planned and being built around here need water. Wessex Water has said it will experience problems supplying these properties, but the Govt. of both persuasions said they need to be built. Repeat this all over the South of England.

Perhaps a solution is to go full on Third World and supply proletarian houses on a flexible rota system, maybe using bins to store water like I used to do when there was a trickle from the tap in the dry season. Sometimes/often for a few hours overnight.

Not much but enough to release the scent of petrichor

It would be galling to see the run broken by a trace amount.

Mind you we've a long way to go to break the record - 73 days without rain at Mile end in Kent back in 1893. Its probably one of the hardest records to beat - I don't think we've come anywhere close to it since.

For comparison the drought of 1976 had roughly 45 consecutive days.

My Windows app is telling me "rain coming", but I dont see it.  We need it, I dont fancy dealing with any subsidence issues, though touch wood, hasnt happened in previous droughts. 

Unless you're on the valley floor, you'll be on chalk, not clay, and resistant to subsidence.

Same, today has been absolutely dreadful weather, bright overcast, humid, far too hot, as is always the case when I'm off work. But now just the tiny spit of rain had taken away the humidity and given us some petrichor.

I had the same issue yesterday afternoon. I was playing a bowls match about 1/2 mile from Kew Gardens weather station and it spotted with rain for about 10-15 mins then there was a heavier burst for a couple of minutes. I looked it up on Kew Gardens rainfall gauge when I got home and it registered 0.0. Could it have just evaporated before it was recorded ?

These include Warwickshire's Avon, Somerset's Brue and Hampshire's Itchen (as of 28 July).

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a6b45cdbf4a7aca8f89771d/Rainfall_and_river_flow_summary_22_to_28_July_2026.pdf 

What an awful thought Nick. I thought release was only permitted during times of excess rainfall.

David Bellamy once said to me all toilet cisterns should have a label saying "To the Sea!"

My local river, the Blackwater, always has plenty of flow even in the driest spells, and I am pretty sure it is mostly treated outflow from the sewage works. As for release permits, treated effluent "shouldn't" be a problem, it's the untreated stuff being released during heavy rain.

The Lambourn was still normal when I fished last Friday, albeit some of the levels will be potentially artificially high due to the abundant weed growth, the fishing was rubbish though 😒

More unexpected to me is that the aquifer levels locally that feed the Lambourn and the Pang are still completely normal and most are relatively steady, not even falling. That won't be impacted by any outflow of course.

Previous record was 34 days from March 23rd-April 25th, 2002.

Also, only 1mm has fallen here over the last 50 days.