London's Kew Gardens Lacked Something in July

Just how hot and dry is it in Europe? Consider this stat via New Scientist: London's Kew Gardens, home to a monitoring station for the UK national weather service, logged no rain during the entire month of July—the first time that's happened since record-keeping began in 1871. And the city's Heathrow Airport was at a record 42 straight days and counting without rain. A post at London Centric doesn't see this as an anomaly: "We're approaching the point where the capital will have to face large chunks of the year without even a drop of rain, a situation that London was not designed to cope with."

At least 20 Met Office stations across southern England—from Kent to the Isle of Wight—also saw a rain-free July. All in all, it's been the driest summer in 190 years throughout England and Wales, according to the Met Office. More than half of England is now in drought, as is all of Wales, and when rain finally returns, dried-out soils could turn it into dangerous flash floods.