Farmers are warning the extreme summer has been “completely brutal” as analysis suggests 2026 could be the worst harvest on record. Analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) suggests the exceptionally hot, dry spring and summer could have cut the country’s cereals and oilseed harvest by 2.5 million tonnes compared to earlier forecasts. The shortfall could be costing UK farmers as much as £390 million. The extremely hot and dry summer comes after a dry spring – and is the second year in a row of extreme heat and drought, interspersed with extremely wet winters in what has been described as “weather whiplash”. “It is now a clear priority for the future of UK food production, farming and the countryside that sustains it.”