This summer has seen less than a millimetre of rain fall across our region, less than some parts of the Sahara desert!

The lack of precipitation has had catastrophic results, not least being a big contributing factor to the huge grass fire that swept through parts of Wanstead Flats at the weekend.

Since May 29th just 0.7mm has fallen in Wanstead, less than the 2.9mm recorded in Bechar, Algeria, and far less than Agadez in Niger which recorded nearly 108mm.

Of course the fact that the mean temperature of Wanstead over the same period is at least 13C cooler than both Saharan towns means that the dunes won’t be blowing across the Temple any time soon.

The affects of the dry weather can also be seen across the UK in these MODIS images, the lush greens of last year looking much paler and browner.