'We don't have water': Here’s what it's like living through Europe’s driest summer in memory

Europe is facing one of its driest summers ever.

Brutal heatwaves have swept across the continent, wildfires have torn through the land and rivers are drying up.

And, after a winter with little rainfall was followed by record high temperatures in some countries, millions of people are now facing the consequences of severe drought.

For some, it is taking the form of minor hosepipe bans or empty swimming pools. For others, the impact on their daily lives has been far more extreme.

At the end of July, Spain's reservoirs were at just 40 per cent capacity. The country is facing its driest climate for at least 1,200 years, according to a recent article in the journal Nature Geoscience.  

For the roughly 800 people who live in the village of Bonastre, just south of Barcelona, drought has caused their taps to run dry. 

Severe restrictions have been put in place with reservoir levels even lower than the national average. Residents only have access to water from 7:00 to 10:00 and 20:00 to 23:00 each day.

“We have in theory four hours of water per day,” says 43-year-old Mario Ferrario who owns a printing shop in the village.

“I take my daughters early in the morning to summer school and we don't have water.”

If he’s lucky, he can have a shower when he gets back. If not he has to wait until the evening or even the next day.

“And that's if there is water again because often the schedules are not followed. They [local authorities] set up a timetable and then change it without warning us.”

Mayor of the village, Ester Barta, has described the situation in Bonastre this year as particularly “extreme”. The well that provides the village with water is supplied by the Gaià aquifer where the effects of drought have been apparent for months.

At first,