Food prices are set to rise by £7.15 a week as heatwave hits Britain's struggling farmers with crops of potatoes, onions and carrots slumping by as much as one-fifth

Food prices are set to rise by £7.15 a week as heatwave hits Britain's struggling farmers with crops of potatoes, onions and carrots slumping by as much as one-fifth

Farmers across the country turning to their banks to get loans to tide them over

Yields of wheat likely to be down by a quarter as kitchen staples plunge by 20%

Milk yields were also depressed by the hot weather, as was the fertility of pigs

Record heatwaves across the UK, drought conditions in some areas and sporadic rain have hampered this year's harvest, leaving farmers to count costs and consumers to count their coins.

Yields of key crops have fallen due to weather swings, particularly in the north and west, which recently saw wet conditions, which meant many farmers had struggled to bring in the wet crops.

Early indications from the harvest are that yields of wheat are likely to be down by about a quarter, and that staples such as potatoes, onions and carrots have plunged by as much as 20%.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]