Britain's dry summer set to trigger drought declarations

Firefighters attend to a fire, following a long period of hot weather and little rain, in Rainham, Essex, Britain August 11, 2022. REUTERS/Tony O'Brien

LONDON (Reuters) - Parts of England are likely to declare a drought on Friday, local media reported ahead of a meeting between the government, its environment agency and water companies to discuss a long period of dry weather.

Parts of England are in the middle of their second heatwave this summer with temperatures forecast to top 30 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) for the next few days, having reached their highest ever of more than 40C last month.