Brief
BBC Homepage Skip to content Accessibility Help Your account Home News Sport Earth Reel Worklife Travel Culture Future Music TV Weather Sounds More menu More menu Search BBC Home News Sport Earth Reel Worklife Travel Culture Future Music TV Weather Sounds Close menu BBC News Menu Home Climate World UK Business Tech Science Entertainment & Arts Health In Pictures More BBC Verify Newsbeat BBC Verify From Stonehenge to the Serpentine - satellite images show impact of hot, dry summer By Rob Corp , Barbara Metzler and Thomas Spencer , BBC Verify Published 10 August 2026 With more parts of England set to join Wales as being officially declared to be in drought, BBC Verify has been gathering satellite imagery showing the impact of this year's extreme summer heat. From historic sites and parks to reservoirs and golf courses, the hot, dry weather has changed how large parts of the UK usually look. This year's consecutive heatwaves and above-average temperatures have had a noticeable effect - even compared with last summer which was the UK's warmest on record. Drop in Welsh reservoir level According to the UK government, almost all reservoirs in England and Wales are officially classed as having water levels below normal or low. Five are exceptionally low - among them Clywedog reservoir in Powys which provides water supplies for parts of the West Midlands. These satellite images show how more of the banks of the reservoir are visible this August compared with the same month last year. Low reservoir levels have not been the primary cause of recent hosepipe bans and drought declarations - which are ultimately triggered by a lack of rain - across large parts of England and Wales. The Environment Agency has reported that reservoir storage is now at 69% in England, which is below the long-term average of 82% for the time of year but higher than during last year's drought. However, in its latest report the agency says water storage levels are above those recorded during similar periods in 2022 and 2025. While Scotland has not been as badly affected as England and Wales, July's rainfall was below average for the south and east of the country, with many areas seeing less than half the long-term average for the month. This has led the Scottish Environment Protection Agency to warn of "significant" water scarcity in the Borders and "moderate scarcity" in areas on the eastern side of Scotland. Brown fairways at Open golf course Hard and dry fairways were a key talking point at golf's Open Championship which was held at Royal Birkdale on Merseyside last month. A side-by-side comparison shows how much greener the fairways appeared in summer 2025 compared with this year. As the BBC reported earlier this month while domestic users face hosepipe restrictions the rules for commercial users - including golf courses - vary. When hosepipe bans are in force sports grounds can use hoses or sprinklers - but only to water grass areas "actively used for play". For golf courses this means the greens and tees can be irrigated but the fairways cannot. Algal blooms in reservoirs and lakes Right in the heart of the UK capital, Hyde Park's famous Serpentine lake was closed for swimming on Monday because of high levels of blue-green algae. Blue-green algae occur naturally, but warm, sunny and settled conditions can help blooms develop. Some can be harmful to people and animals. A similar issue is affecting Killington Reservoir in south Cumbria. Satellite images show a visible change in the water between 24 May and 8 August, where a blue-green algal bloom has been confirmed. Looking at the rest of Hyde Park and what is one of London's prime green spaces is now mostly brown following consecutive heatwaves since May. It's a similar sight in south Wiltshire where the usually green rolling fields surrounding the ancient stone circle at Stonehenge have become almost as pale as the path around the prehistoric site. As BBC Verify previously reported parts of the country are suffering from "vegetation stress" where the development and growth of plants, grass and crops can be severely affected. Vegetation turning brown, even on this scale, does not mean the plants have disappeared or died, as grass, shrubs and some trees can recover once rainfall returns, provided their root systems remain intact. Experts have said the combination of next-to-no rainfall and prolonged hot weather is likely to cause significant issues for the farming industry and could have an impact on agriculture and food prices in the coming months. And perhaps counter-intuitively, prolonged dry weather can raise the risk of flash flooding when it eventually does rain. That is because parched, rock-hard ground may struggle to absorb water at first, so some rainwater may simply run off the surface instead. Scientists also warn the UK is facing a growing risk of water shortages in the decades ahead, driven by human-caused climate change and increased demand. 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