ANYBODY wishing to feed the ducks at Upton Country Park will have been disappointed to find an empty pond recently.

The water completely evaporated as a result of weeks of hot weather, leaving an empty basin.

Ed Baker, who took his daughter, Georgia, to Upton Country Park this week said he was surprised to see the pond area “bone dry”.

“We went down to see how the ducks were getting on after they hatched earlier this year, and we didn’t know where they’d gone,” he said.

“The pond is not very deep but it was completely dry. It’s a shame there’s no ducks around for the kids to feed at the moment.”

The pond drying out is understood to be quite unusual.

Ed Cvijan, visitor services officer at the park, said the last time it happened was in 2016.

“The pond started to dry out at the start of the hot spell in early July,” he said.

“The pond is not constantly fed by any source so it’ll start to fill up again when the rains return in September and October.”

He added: “We do have a lot of resident ducks, but they are staying at Holes Bay at the moment and getting by in the mud baths.”

The heatwave that has swept across the country is gearing up for round two after more comfortable temperatures this week - but only in some parts of the UK.

The mercury could climb back up to 28C in Bournemouth today the Met Office has said, with highs of 27C predicted tomorrow.

A spokesman said: “Essentially at the end of the week we’re looking at a bit of a north-west/south-east split in the weather.

“Northern and some western areas will often be cooler with some outbreaks of rain - particularly in Northern Ireland and that could spread in to the south and western Scotland.”

While temperatures are likely to hit at least 29C and possibly 30C in southern parts of the UK, temperatures elsewhere will be sitting at around 24C to 25C, he said.

The spokesman said: “Temperatures will continue to build, but nothing quite as hot as what we saw towards the end of last week.”

He added: “This weekend is much more promising than last weekend - plenty of sunshine around.” The heat is likely to continue into next week.

“Temperatures will remain pretty hot across at least the south of England but potentially more widely across the UK - we could see some wet weather coming across the north west, but still pretty hot,” the spokesman said.