UK reservoirs bone-dry amid searing heatwave

High demand for drinking water has taken its toll

Lindley Wood Reservoir is on the verge of drying up completely (Yorkshire Post / SWNS)

Dramatic photos show the transformation of reservoirs in the north of England into Death Valley-esque scenes, as Britain bakes in a heatwave.

The images reveal beds of cracked mud where searing temperatures and huge demand for drinking water have caused much of the lakes to evaporate.

Britons are attempting to cope with temperatures that were forecast to top 40C on Tuesday. Some even went to the lengths of taping foil emergency blankets over their windows.

A rare danger-to-life warning was instituted for parts of northern England as the heat caused tarmac to melt and rail tracks to buckle, while GP clinics and some schools were closed.

And beauty spots across the scorched north have dried up so severely that mudbeds have been exposed and left deep cracks appearing in a desert-like landscape.

It was in stark contrast to the usual sight of them full to the brim with millions of gallons of water and came as health experts urged Britons to keep hydrated.

Exposed mudbeds were captured at both Lindley Wood Reservoir, near Otley, West Yorkshire, and Swinsty Reservoir, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Water recently admitted water levels at some sites had dropped to about 60 per cent of capacity because demand for drinking water has been so high.

The much-reduced Swinsty Reservoir near Harrogate (Yorkshire Post / SWNS)

Across the border in Edgworth, Lancashire, Wayoh Reservoir is normally full to the brim with 500 million gallons of water.

The reservoir supplies around 50 per cent of the drinking water to nearby Bolton, but water levels have receded so much that it now appears bone dry in parts.

Lindley Moor Reservoir in the Washburn Valley (Yorkshire Post / SWNS)

As local temperatures reached 35C on Monday, just a few trickles of water were left to be seen amid the dramatic landscape.

SWNS