160123 GLOUCESTERSHIRE RIVER CHANGE WEST COUNTRY

Last summer, months of drought caused the Upper Thames to dry up affecting biodiversity in the area.

Dry river beds revived by heavy rain after a summer of drought

131022 drought farmer plymouth west country

South West Water says people must do more to restrict as water levels continue to fall and a dry period is forecast

Warning to ration water as reservoir levels 'exceptionally low'

Guy Singh-Waton's reservoir has dried out for a second time after extreme hot weather

Farmer loses £20k in profit from one field as reservoir dries up

The source of the River Thames has moved 10km down stream as hot weather casues the it to dry up

Pictures show before and after as source of River Thames dries up entirely

A lack of rain and unusually high temperatures have brought water levels down, uncovering structures dating back hundreds of years 

The 'lost valley' uncovered by the drought in Cornwall

Famous farmer Adam Henson says lambs are not growing and milk production has slowed due to the heat

'The grass is all gone' - farmers struggling to survive as drought declared

The current heatwave has prompted us to look back at our archive of the Great Drought in the South West - with save water campaigns and ladybird swarms.

The heatwave of 1976: water shortages and ladybird invasions

The summer of 1976 was our longest recorded spell of hot weather. The West Country went 45 days without any rain. Here are your memories

West Country Drought

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