Half of England has been declared officially in drought, as farmers warn the extreme conditions and record-breaking heatwaves are making it “harder, riskier and more costly” to produce food.
The Environment Agency says seven regions across central, eastern, and southern England are in drought after what is thought to be the driest July on record combined with soaring temperatures.
Agency bosses warned of lasting effects of the absence of rain on the environment, wildlife and the economy, while experts said farming was becoming increasingly precarious.
I’m making the point that pre-Brexit UK would have been better able to cope, don’t mistake this for a chance to be insufferable.
You mean the group of countries having an even worse season than Britain?
They have more arable land per capita, so maybe. Look, are either of us experts or is this conversation going to suck?
Just in the June heatwaves, EU+UK lost 9m tons of grain crop, with 7m of that in France, Hungary and Spain. This will be the worst harvest in nearly a decade.