A drought has been officially declared for parts of England by the government, with parts of southern, central and eastern England officially veering to drought status given the dry weather in the region.
With prolonged dry weather is having a detrimental effect on water resources and the environment, the National Drought Group said the the status had been triggered in light of the "hydrological position" in the region, including low rainfall, river flows, groundwater levels, reservoir levels, and the dryness of soils, as well as the impacts these conditions have on public water supply, farmers and the environment.
The Met Office reported the driest July for England since 1935, with 23.1 millimetres of rain, just 35% of the average for the month.
Drought status was confirmed in eight out of 14 areas by the Environment Agency: Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent and South London, Herts and North London, East Anglia, Thames, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, and the East Midlands.
"All water companies have reassured us that essential supplies are still safe," water minister Steve Double said in a statement.
"We are better prepared than ever before for periods of dry weather, but we will continue to closely monitor the situation, including impacts on farmers and the environment, and take further action as needed."
As reservoir levels plummet and demand for water reaches some of its highest peaks ever, FTSE 100 listed water company Severn Trent PLC (LSE:SVT) said it has no plans to ban hosepipes for now, but has urged people to use water wisely.
"Our region has experienced the driest July in a century and with no rainfall in the forecast, we’re asking people to be mindful of their water use," said Sophie Evans-Young, water efficiency manager at Severn Trent, which said it is adding 100mln litres of water to the network every day, while doubling its tanker fleet.
A spokesperson for South West Water, owned by Pennon Group PLC (LSE:PNN, OTC:PEGRY) said, "We are here to deliver over 870mln litres of clean, safe, and reliable drinking water every day to a population of 3.5mln customers and rising to 10mln in the summer months."
"If we continue to experience an unprecedented and prolonged period of hot and dry weather, alongside extremely high levels of demand we will take the next step to introduce water restrictions to help reduce usage and to protect the environment."
A third blue-chip water company, United Utilities PLC, covers the north-west, which has not declared a ban, though across the Pennines, Yorkshire Water announced a hosepipe ban from August 26. In the south-east Thames Water is expected to announce a hosepipe ban soon.
As fires have broken out in national parks and on dry land, all the 'big four' retailers have stopped selling disposable barbeques.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets and Asda have joined Tesco PLC (LSE:TSCO), J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) in temporarily removing the product from stores due to the hot, dry weather.
Both Europe and the US have observed similar conditions as there have been reported drought conditions in more than 43% of the US and more than 51% of the lower 48 states in America.
The drought in Europe could be the worst in 500 years, with the Rhine river set to see a further reduction in water levels, with a key waypoint west of Frankfurt set to breach a 40cm threshold - the low level at which barge loading limits would make it uneconomical for many ships to traverse the river.
This would be the lowest level since as far back as 2007, coming at a time when the region is already facing high input costs that fuel inflation.