Water voles have disappeared from part of a chalk stream due to the dry weather, an expert has said.
Matthew Arnold, from the East Yorkshire Rivers Trust, said streams fed by the Yorkshire Wolds were a “lifeline” for wildlife, but water levels were as low as he could remember.
It meant voles were finding it harder to escape from predators in a section of the West Beck, at Wansford, near Driffield.
East Yorkshire is not officially in drought, but recorded just 0.8mm of rainfall in July, a record low, according to the Met Office.