What part of the south do you live? I'm in the south-east and I'd estimate most of the summers I've experienced the grass in our parks has turned yellow. It doesn't seem unusual at all to me. And by the way, just because the grass is yellow, does not mean it's dead. It usually recovers quickly as soon as we get rain.
It was pretty much like this in 1976 (yes, I'm that old). We've had localised droughts too. 2003 sticks in my mind - Faversham held the record for just under 100F, and the London Jubilee line had everyone clustered round the windows, and no-one holding the rails as they were too hot (the trains stand outside at the depot near West Ham). My part of the world had lots of crispy grass, burning fields, and dried up streams and ponds, pretty much like now.
I suppose this is probably the second significant drought I've experienced in SE England. It's something like 3 months of sunshine and no rain. Given our summers are usually wet and mild, careful what you wish for...
According to Wikipedia, the peak temperature I'm England in 1976 was 35.9C. In 2022 it was 40.3C. Maybe it was as dry in 1976, but 2022 has been hotter.
