The wheat is in and the hedgerows are laden with ripening blackberries. The drought has hastened the harvest and not a drop of rain forecast in southern England for the week ahead. 

 The year from January to June is said to be have been the driest for that period since the long hot summer of 1976. Last month was the driest July in the south-east since records began. So it's seriously parched out there. And seriously hot (though lovely) to be out in the countryside; even the breeze is a waft of warm air.