Feeding the birds is one of the best ways to help your garden and everything living in it - and as bird populations continue to struggle, it’s never been more important to give a helping hand to the feathered friends we have visiting our green spaces.

But according to a bird food supplier, there’s a huge problem with leaving food out for birds when the weather is very hot, as it will be this weekend - because birds run the risk of dehydration. Just like us, birds need a certain amount of water in their diet and can often get it from their food if drinking water is harder to come by.

But most bird food is very dry - think seeds, oats, nuts and dried mealworms. They’re all great foods to leave on bird tables, but none of them provide much needed moisture in times of hot weather.

This Sunday, the Met Office is predicting that the weather will peak at 25C, with another 25C day right behind it on Monday.

That’s why people are being urged to take action to help birds when bright, hot sunshine is at its peak.

Garden expert Lucy Taylor of Vine House Farm Bird Foods says: “Very dry weather at this time of year creates garden birds with a problem, because the food they need for themselves and their young is harder to find.

“The main food that most garden birds need at this time of year is invertebrates, including caterpillars, flying insects, earthworms and snails. Even species like the House sparrow that feed on seeds for much of the year, will partly switch to invertebrates during the breeding season because the protein and moisture they contain is what their chicks need to grow and survive.

“Prolonged dry weather can make this food much harder to find, with earthworms, for example, staying well below the ground surface and therefore not being accessible to species like Blackbird and Robin.

“The lack of rain also means a lack of drinking and bathing water for birds, with many in more urban areas often relying on a simple puddle to drink from and bathe in. But there’s plenty we can all do to help our garden birds get through the current dry spell."

Lucy urged gardeners to wet food before putting it on bird tables.

She added: “Dried mealworms are a rather poor alternative to live, but if they are used, then they must be first soaked in cold water for a few hours before putting them out. Sultanas are another food which are good for some species of garden bird, but again, it’s essential they’re first soaked in water.”

As well as that, it's also useful to put out water for birds.

Lucy adds: "Keep bird baths full and clean – and perhaps add another. Access to clean water can be a lifesaver for birds when there’s no natural source of water close by, but dirty water in bird baths is a real hazard as it can cause and spread disease in birds. So keep the bird bath clean and full with fresh water throughout the day.

"The other thing you can do is add a further source of clean water in your garden, which can be any sort of shallow dish or tray – e.g. the sort that goes under a plant pot."