The UK's hottest June on record caused unprecedented deaths of fish in rivers and disturbed insects and plants, environment groups have warned.The Met Office will say later on Monday if the high temperatures were linked to climate change.
"The reports of the number of fish death incidents in rivers for this time of year has been unprecedented. I would normally expect rivers to be affected later in the summer when it's hotter and drier," Mark Owen, from the Angling Trust, told BBC News.The deaths are partly caused by less oxygen in the water as river levels decrease. Fish also die when dried-up pollutants from cars and lorries on roads wash into rivers during flash storms.
More frequent and more intense periods of warm weather are putting pressure on the UK's environment and water supplies.