Britons despairing over their increasingly yellow and crispy lawns can breathe a sigh of relief – the grass may not be dead at all, according to experts.After weeks of scorching sunshine and barely a drop of rain, gardens across the country have been transformed from lush green carpets into straw-coloured patches.But Dr Stuart Thompson, emeritus fellow in Plant Biochemistry at the University of Westminster, said there is no need to panic about the dramatic change.The grass is responding to the extreme lack of water by effectively shutting down its growth, rather than dying, he explained.‘As a group, grasses are good at surviving dry conditions and their resilience has helped make them one of the most successful groups of plants on Earth,’ he wrote on The Conversation.‘Under really dry conditions, such as those we are seeing at the moment, they have no choice but to shut down and wait for better conditions.‘After previous droughts, apparently dead expanses of stalks have slowly recovered when rain comes back.‘Our lawns will return this time too.’ Parliament Square during the drought conditions that have hit 71.3 per cent of England, after the UK recorded its driest July since records began The grass is responding to the extreme lack of water by effectively shutting down its growth, rather than dying, the expert said. Pictured: An aerial view of dried fields, on August 12, 2026 in Weymouth Britain's prolonged lack of rain has left reservoirs, rivers, farmland and gardens under increasing pressure, while millions of people are now affected by water restrictionsBritain is currently in the grip of an extraordinary drought, with almost three-quarters of England now in drought status.July was particularly brutal, with the Met Office recording just 10 per cent of England's long-term average rainfall.This made it the driest July on record for the country.Across the UK as a whole, July was the third-driest on record, with only 28.9mm of rain recorded – just 35 per cent of the average.The dry spell has continued into August, with the Environment Agency reporting that just 5 per cent of average August rainfall had fallen by August 10.The prolonged lack of rain has left reservoirs, rivers, farmland and gardens under increasing pressure, while millions of people are now affected by water restrictions.But while the situation is serious for Britain's water supplies and agriculture, your yellow lawn is not necessarily something to lose sleep over.Dr Thompson explained that when it is this dry, grass moves what water remains to the parts of the plant that will produce new leaves, which are protected deep inside the outer leaves.