Hot in the Highlands: Scottish games defeated by heat wave

LONDON:  In Scotland, which usually sees buckets of rain each summer, a traditional Highland Games event has fallen victim to Britain's summer heat wave.

Organizers of the Invercharron Highland Games say the "exceptionally dry weather" has slowed the growth of hay, so the farmer who lends his field for the event won't be able to harvest his crop before the games were to be held Sept. 15.

Organizers on Thursday expressed "severe regret" for the cancellation.

Invercharron is traditionally the last event in Scotland's summer Highland Games season.

The Invercharron games, which include competitions in piping, dancing, caber tossing and tug of war, were first held in 1888 and were revived in 1981.

Britain's Meteorological Office says July's weather was the third-warmest for that month since monthly records began in 1910.