SCORCHEDER
THE heatwave is starting to leave the nation feeling browned off, with green spaces scorched dry as the mercury continues to rise.
Parks, moors and fields have been baked into barren landscapes while roads melt in the high temperatures.
And the hottest could be yet to come, with today predicted to hit 33C in the longest heatwave since 1976.
Trumpington Meadows country park in Cambridgeshire was one of many left dry and yellow by the intense heat.
Bristol’s Clifton Downs were more like Clifton Browns, though similar parched conditions did not deter sunbathers on Woodhouse Moor in Leeds.
Northern Ireland has introduced a hosepipe ban and drought fears have been raised in the rest of the UK, despite assurances from the water industry.
The River Tyne has been reduced to a stream in parts of Northumberland.
Meanwhile on Thursday a bin lorry sank into a hole when asphalt melted and gave way on a town centre carriageway in Newbury, Berkshire. Thames Valley Police tweeted a photo of the stricken vehicle.
West Berkshire Council said: “We excavated half the site and found solid ground underneath and not ground water, so there is no larger hole under- neath. The road will be closed over the weekend as repairs are carried out.”
A man needed rescuing in Heaton, Tyne and Wear, when melted tarmac gave way as he stepped on it.
Fire crews said the 24-year-old was lucky not to break his ankle in the hole, which went up to his thigh. Even fish are suffering, with a koi carp treated for sunburn in Burton-on-Trent, East Staffs.
Vet Paul Revell said: “Believe it or not, fish can get sunburnt if they spend too long at the surface of a pond or lake.”
British Wimbledon hopeful Kyle Edmund will be feeling the burn today as he takes on three-time champion Novak Djokovic in the third round.
And with the heat on for England as they face Sweden in the World Cup, the Met Office tweeted a weather map with “It’s coming home” replacing symbols.
The highest temperature yesterday was 30.6C, at St James’s Park in London. Gosport, Hants, and Witley, Surrey, had highs of 30C. The Met Office said: “The outlook will remain dry, fine and sunny across the weekend, with the temperature to creep up to 31 or 32, and a slight chance of 33.
“On Sunday there’ll be a slightly bigger chance it will hit 33.”
The hot spell began on June 24. The heatwave record was set in summer 1976, when there were two 18-day periods of unbroken temperatures of 29C or above.
Green space baked dry and roads buckle
Mercury to hit 33C as even fish get sunburn