Last month, I wrote about Europe’s summer of extreme heat. Since then, in the UK anyway, it’s been hard to escape conversations about the ongoing high temperatures. 

One industry facing significant impacts from the consistent hot weather and drought is farming – and new analysis points towards the 2026 harvest season becoming the worst since detailed records began over 40 years ago. 

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) estimates that the extreme conditions have already reduced this year’s expected cereal and oilseed yields by 2.5 million tonnes, a shortfall that could leave UK farmers between £293m and £390m worse off. Research indicates reduced yields for spring barley, oats and wheat, with wheat production notably estimated to fall well beneath the ten-year average. 

This marks the third year in a row where weather-related challenges have significantly impacted UK farmers, who are also facing rising costs across other parts of the business.