This is an occurrence that is becoming all the more frequent in a country ill-prepared for temperatures that stray outside low single digit to high twenties (that’s Celsius, for our imperial metric friends).

But this year feels different. Temperatures have exceeded previous summers and have broken long-held records.

And whilst there is a divide between Brits who are lapping up all the vitamin D and getting the best tan they can and those that are gasping for a breath of cool air and hunting down the nearest shaded area they can find, there is one thing that we can all agree on: our landscapes are changing as a result.

What we so commonly call our “green spaces” have rapidly become yellow, dry and dead spaces.

Rivers are drying up. It’s expected that river flow levels across central, southern and eastern England won’t return to normal until October this year.

Natural fires, too, are on the rise. So far this year, there have been 745 wildfires in the UK—more than a 200% increase from the total figure of 247 for all of last year.

As a result of the high temperatures and low rainfall, July has officially been declared as the driest month on record since 1935 and The Environment Agency has declared an official drought across most of England. But it isn’t just the UK struggling with low water levels; 47% of Europe is under drought warning conditions according to the European Drought Observatory and 15% is in a seriously severe water deficiency.

Typically after we experience heat waves, the heavens open and thunderstorms occur—and that’s exactly what the Met Office is forecasting. You may think that pouring rain is what we need right now to get through the drought, however it’s quite the opposite and comes with its own set of dangers.

During normal conditions, our soil can easily absorb the rainfall and store it. However due to the excessive heat, soil quality has severely deteriorated causing it to dry, crack and harden, causing it to repel, rather than absorb, water. To exacerbate the issue further, vegetation and grasslands have dried up, removing the natural shelter they usually offer soil. Scientists have said lighter rainfall across a number of days would be preferential to help replenish soil quality and avoid the risk of flash flooding.

Despite being vital for human life on earth, soil and vegetation is often under-appreciated and forgotten about in relation to other equally significant issues. Across the UK, we are storing 7% more carbon than we were 300 years ago, with vegetation storing 13% and soil 5% more carbon respectively than in the 18th century.

Scientists have said that this year’s record breaking temperatures and drought would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change, and that we’re likely to see this dry, hot weather become more frequent in years to come.

You can learn more about the importance of soil by heading over to the Soil Association.