From the UK Independent

‘Farmers are used to dealing with fluctuations in the weather but if we have two or three extreme years in a row it has the potential to put growers out of business’

The potato snack was left an inch (2.5cm) shorter on average in 2018 after extreme heatwaves robbed them of much-needed water over the summer months.

This was one of the many changes catalogued in a new analysis by the Climate Coalition network and scientists at the University of Leeds.

They explored how rising global temperatures and associated extremes are likely to impact crop production and make British-grown produce harder to find.

Analysis conducted in the wake of last summer’s heatwaves by the Met Office found the event was made 30 times more likely by climate change.

Potato yields were slashed by a fifth in England and Wales in 2018, while carrot production fell by up to 30 per cent and onions by 40 per cent.

At the other end of the weather spectrum, more than half of UK farmers reported being affected by severe flooding or storms over the past 10 years.

The intensity of winter rainfall has gradually been creeping up in recent decades, as the changing climate tampers with weather systems and increases the chances of major downpours.

Read the full story here.

HT/Willie Soon

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