Hedgehogs suffering in record-breaking heat wave in South East

The registered non-profit organisation in Pluckley has also seen a huge rise in starving and dehydrated adult hedgehogs brought in to care.

In the 1950s it was estimated there were 35 million hedgehogs living wild in Great Britain, yet today that figure is around 800,000 due to urban development of habitats and climate change, according to Steward.

“They’ve been around for about 15 million years and done quite well up to this point and evolved as they need to, but this is all happening in such a short space of time they just haven’t got time to adapt,” she said.

Alice Serras-Carroll, manager of Wildlife Aid in Leatherhead, has also seen a sharp rise in the number of dehydrated animals taken in.

“It is unusual for this country to be this hot so that is why animals are not really used to it,” she said.

The Met Office has confirmed that July in England and Wales was the driest and sunniest since records began, while southern England recorded its warmest July on record, external.

With 33.5C being recorded at Wisley on Monday that marks the 33rd day this year with temperatures of 30C or more.

While Kent is not officially in drought, seven other regions are – including most of Surrey.

It’s not just hedgehogs who are feeling the heat and needing help from the Surrey rescue centre – vet Raul Romero Reyes said birds were also at risk.

“We had a pigeon who got completely engulfed in mud in a dried up pond, literally just the head was sticking out so we had to rescue it, then clean it up for release,” he said.