Britain could face the risk of shortages of some food products as drought continues and a prolonged heatwave is forecast to affect large parts of England, farmers’ organisations have warned.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said the impact of dry conditions could reduce outputs from farms just as farming had already been disrupted by extreme weather in recent years. Heat is expected to continue into next week, with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issuing heat health alerts for multiple regions.

Heat Health Alerts across England

UKHSA issued amber heat health alerts for the East Midlands, the east of England, the south-east and London from 9am on Monday to 9am on Wednesday. A yellow alert is in place for the north-west, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands and the south-west over the same period.

The agency said temperatures are forecast to rise above 30C in parts of the country, increasing health risks, particularly for people who are more vulnerable.

An acting consultant in public health at UKHSA said services should ensure they are prepared and reminded people to watch for older relatives, neighbours and those with underlying health conditions. The advice included staying hydrated, avoiding the sun during the hottest hours and keeping homes cool.

Drought Leaves Farms Short of Water

Farming groups said many farms were left struggling after floods damaged conditions over the winter, making planting difficult. In many areas, they now have limited water as drought-related restrictions curb irrigation.

The current drought is the third in five years. Farmers said it is becoming a recurring feature of agriculture in Britain rather than an unusual event. In parts of England, some areas have had no rain for more than a month, while record-breaking heatwaves since early summer have dried out soil.

The Met Office reported that England recorded only 8% of its average rainfall for July, and it is expected to be confirmed as the driest July on record.

Around 23 million people in England and Wales are under hosepipe bans. The dry weather has also contributed to wildfires, with incidents including a blaze in Suffolk.

Wheat and Other Cereals Hit Hard

Cereals including wheat and barley have been particularly affected, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). Its first harvest report of 2026 said the hot weather has produced the earliest harvest since records began in 2006, with many farmers in the south and east of England completing harvest around two to three weeks earlier than the long-term average.

AHDB said yields across much of the UK are generally below the 10-year average so far, with some farms seeing significant reductions. It also said combines have been operating earlier than usual, with many farmers working through the night to avoid the most extreme daytime temperatures.

At the same time, farmers’ groups said the drought is affecting crop size, with wheat described as being about half its normal height in England.

Food Shortages Warning and Financial Pressures

The NFU president, Tom Bradshaw, warned that reduced harvests could contribute to food shortages. He told BBC Radio 4 that he had asked the prime minister to take action and argued that farmers should be given tax breaks to build water storage systems on their land. He also called for greater prioritisation of domestic food production.

Bradshaw said changes to overseas farming conditions could further affect supplies, as other countries relied on to produce food and vegetables also face shifting climates.

Farmers’ organisations said the drought is coming alongside financial strain. A recent report found that a third of British farmers were making a loss or only breaking even. Land and farming representatives said the sector has been squeezed as government removes EU-derived subsidies that previously supported the industry, while extreme weather can erase any profits from crops.

The Country, Land and Business Association president, Gavin Lane, warned that for some farmers the current harvest could be their last, citing a sodden winter followed by drought that left wheat at around half its usual height and meant some crops may not be worth harvesting. He said government should plan for more frequent drought and invest in resilient farming systems, including measures such as reservoirs and wildfire prevention.

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3 August 2026

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4 hours ago, webfact said:

Britain could face the risk of shortages

Less products, whatever it is, will create higher prices.

The crucial thing: if the farmers can't sell their corn eg, because of high price to cover their costs, the corn will come from other countries.

Even the dumbest climate changed denier will feel the climate change

More mouths to feed.

Another drawback of increasing the population at such a ridiculous rate.

Still, who cares about things like food when we have all that cultural enrichment? 😄

Housing shortages, school shortages, strain on public/health services, higher unemployment, and now food shortages.

Britain falling rapidly to third world status.

Meanwhile Burnham makes "hilarious" videos about what to call a bap. He's sure got his finger on the pulse. Shame he is illegitimate, but hey, who cares about Democracy when we have Diversity.

Andy Burnham talks Bread!

...With The Hundreds Of Millions Of Units ...(Kilos/Bushels/Tons/Liters/Gallons)

...Of Produce Being Intentionally Destroyed...

...To Either Control The Producers... (Farmers)

...Or The Prices... (To Increase Profits)

...This Is An Utterly Murderous Scenario...

...Which Is Not Based On Reality...

...But On Some Other Agenda...

...And It Is Going Global...

...'Wake Up'... (As Is Often Said)

...This Is Not 'Happening'...It Is Being Orchestrated...

...(Do Your Research)

Off topic racist troll posts removed @Airalee discuss the topic.

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

More mouths to feed.

Another drawback of increasing the population at such a ridiculous rate.

Still, who cares about things like food when we have all that cultural enrichment? 😄

Housing shortages, school shortages, strain on public/health services, higher unemployment, and now food shortages.

Britain falling rapidly to third world status.

Meanwhile Burnham makes "hilarious" videos about what to call a bap. He's sure got his finger on the pulse. Shame he is illegitimate, but hey, who cares about Democracy when we have Diversity.

Andy Burnham talks Bread!

Global warming is the cause of the drought and failure of crops.

Nothing to do with migrants.

8 minutes ago, bannork said:

Global warming is the cause of the drought and failure of crops.

Nothing to do with migrants.

More people requires more food to feed them. This leads to shortages unless carefully considered.

Another thing the left didn't think about that when they were trying to appear virtuous. 😄

4 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

More people requires more food to feed them. This leads to shortages unless carefully considered.

Another thing the left didn't think about that when they were trying to appear virtuous. 😄

There weren't any shortages before the drought.

There aren't any shortages now.

2 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

There weren't any shortages before the drought.

There aren't any shortages now.

Good.

That means the Doomsday cult can shut up for once.

1 minute ago, JonnyF said:

Good.

That means the Doomsday cult can shut up for once.

So can those blaming everything on immigration.

4 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

So can those blaming everything on immigration.

Supply and demand.

When supply stays the same and demand increases, what happens?

10 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Supply and demand.

When supply stays the same and demand increases, what happens?

Like I said, there are not any shortages.

In fact, judging by the figures on food waste in UK, there's a surplus.

44 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

Like I said, there are not any shortages.

In fact, judging by the figures on food waste in UK, there's a surplus.

So, it would seem the crops are growing great in the brilliant weather Britain is experiencing. Marvellous. Perhaps you should inform The Guardian?

Let's hope the weather stays good so we can feed all the immigrants. We just have to find the money to pay for it all now.

7 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

So, it would seem the crops are growing great in the brilliant weather Britain is experiencing. Marvellous. Perhaps you should inform The Guardian?

Let's hope the weather stays good so we can feed all the immigrants. We just have to find the money to pay for it all now.

Yu are obsessed. There isn't a single topic you can't vomit your anti immigrant nonsense all over.

14 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

So, it would seem the crops are growing great in the brilliant weather Britain is experiencing. Marvellous. Perhaps you should inform The Guardian?

Let's hope the weather stays good so we can feed all the immigrants. We just have to find the money to pay for it all now.

You seem confused.

The headline says " there could be a shortage". There isn't one yet.

The immigrants are here already, so a possible shortage is not down to them.

It's not the demand that's going to increase, unless those pesky panic buyers get started, but the supply that could decrease.

That, as explained in the article, is due to the drought.

8 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

You seem confused.

The headline says " there could be a shortage". There isn't one yet.

The immigrants are here already, so a possible shortage is not down to them.

It's not the demand that's going to increase, unless those pesky panic buyers get started, but the supply that could decrease.

That, as explained in the article, is due to the drought.

Vote Reform or Restore and this wouldn't happen. Or something.

47 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

You seem confused.

The headline says " there could be a shortage". There isn't one yet.

The immigrants are here already, so a possible shortage is not down to them.

It's not the demand that's going to increase, unless those pesky panic buyers get started, but the supply that could decrease.

That, as explained in the article, is due to the drought.

So, do you think that if the supply decreases, the fact that the demand has also increased won't further exacerbate the problem?

An interesting conclusion. 😄

3 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

So, do you think that if the supply decreases, the fact that the demand has also increased won't further exacerbate the problem?

An interesting conclusion. 😄

Pesky immigrants eating all the corn.

I was reliably informed that tourists also eat when they are in the UK. I think we should ban tourism.

57 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Yu are obsessed. There isn't a single topic you can't vomit your anti immigrant nonsense all over.

As I've made clear many times, I'm not anti-immigrant, it's the level of immigration and the quality of the immigrants that concerns me. I'd be quite happy to have say, 10,000 highly skilled immigrants to fill specific skills shortages per year, as long as they had security checks, spoke English and were not allowed to claim welfare.

But in this case it is particularly easy for even an ignoramus to see why an increase in the number of people that need food could lead to a food shortage.

Allow me to simplify for you as you seem to find it all quite complicated. If you had 10 people for dinner last Christmas, and you will have 15 this year, you might need to buy more food.

5 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Pesky immigrants eating all the corn.

I was reliably informed that tourists also eat when they are in the UK. I think we should ban tourism.

Ban tourism? I don't think you've thought that through either. 😄

Brits make around 94 million trips abroad per year, compared to around 42 million trips by foreign tourists to Britain.

So tourism actually means we consume less food, unless all the Brits are taking their food with them on holiday. 😄

Tourists don't get free hotels either.

15 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

So, do you think that if the supply decreases, the fact that the demand has also increased won't further exacerbate the problem?

An interesting conclusion. 😄

No. That was not my conclusion and you know it wasn't.

14 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

As I've made clear many times, I'm not anti-immigrant, it's the level of immigration and the quality of the immigrants that concerns me. I'd be quite happy to have say, 10,000 highly skilled immigrants to fill specific skills shortages per year, as long as they had security checks, spoke English and were not allowed to claim welfare.

But in this case it is particularly easy for even an ignoramus to see why an increase in the number of people that need food could lead to a food shortage.

Allow me to simplify for you as you seem to find it all quite complicated. If you had 10 people for dinner last Christmas, and you will have 15 this year, you might need to buy more food.

Why not exaggerate your Christmas guest list massively? Let's use real figures.

What if you had 10 people last year, but this year you'll have 10.06 people how many extra turkeys would you be buying?

57 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

As I've made clear many times, I'm not anti-immigrant, it's the level of immigration and the quality of the immigrants that concerns me. I'd be quite happy to have say, 10,000 highly skilled immigrants to fill specific skills shortages per year, as long as they had security checks, spoke English and were not allowed to claim welfare.

But in this case it is particularly easy for even an ignoramus to see why an increase in the number of people that need food could lead to a food shortage.

Allow me to simplify for you as you seem to find it all quite complicated. If you had 10 people for dinner last Christmas, and you will have 15 this year, you might need to buy more food.

That ignoramus would understand that discussion of a food shortage refers to the future.

In the present, despite the presence of immigrants, there isn't a shortage.

The possible future shortage is because of the weather.

As for immigrants claiming benefits, a very large %%% don't and those that do have been here at least 5 years, paid in excess of £10000 visa fees o stay here and have been working ad paying tax and NI.

13 minutes ago, youreavinalaff said:

As for immigrants claiming benefits, a very large %%% don't and those that do have been here at least 5 years, paid in excess of £10000 visa fees o stay here and have been working ad paying tax and NI.

Ah, we're back to the "doctors and engineers" narrative. 😄

You forgot to mention the curry.

3 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Supply and demand.

When supply stays the same and demthatsand increases, what happens?

That's not the issue and you know it.

The issue is a posdible slump in supply because of adverse weather.

16 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Ah, we're back to the "doctors and engineers" narrative. 😄

You forgot to mention the curry.

No, we are sticking to facts.

No facts, just more name calling from Red Fartface I see.

Attribution science or climate change attribution is not in a state to make the claims MSM thinks it can.

Add to the effects of drought the possible shortfall of fertiliser (and diesel to fuel machinery) caused by Trump's excursion in and around the Gulf of Hormuz. If farmers can afford fertiliser and can plant, food prices might go up for those reasons too.

3 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Vote Reform or Restore and this wouldn't happen. Or something.

Once Reform are in power, we'll be free of the European Convention of Human Rights, and regain control of our destiny, yeh!..

First thing to ban after migrant boats will be droughts.

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Why not exaggerate your Christmas guest list massively? Let's use real figures.

What if you had 10 people last year, but this year you'll have 10.06 people how many extra turkeys would you be buying?

The .06 people is that a child , just give them a leg 😃

regards Worgeordie