SerpApi.Org
Food shortages will become a reality if the weather does not change in the next 10 days.
The bleak warning was issued by farming organisations in the UK who are facing the worst drought in decades.
Closer to home, Uisce Éireann has introduced a nationwide hosepipe ban from midnight on Friday morning to try and conserve dwindling water levels.
However, the situation in the UK is becoming increasingly serious, with fears growing that supermarkets will struggle to stock their shelves later in the year if it doesn’t start raining soon.
Southern and eastern England have had no rain at all this month, the longest spell without rain in 30 years.
Overall, England has received only 3 per cent of its long-term average July rainfall after the country sweltered in three heatwaves so far.
A spokesman for the National Farmers Union (NFU) told The Independent: ‘Some areas haven’t harvested yet, so what happens over the next week to 10 days could have an impact.’
While Paul Tompkins, NFU deputy president, told the same publication: ‘Parts of the country, particularly in the east and south, have seen exceptionally low rainfall, creating real challenges for farm businesses.
‘For many arable farmers, this could be another difficult and expensive harvest after extreme weather in both 2024 and 2025, which saw both drought and flood.’
In Ireland, Teagasc warned farmers to be mindful of the impact of fertiliser runoff on streams and rivers.
‘Rivers and streams are running with less water at the moment – so there is less water for dilution where nutrient losses occur,’ they warned.
‘In this kind of consistent high temperature scenario, rivers and streams have less capacity to absorb oxygen – increasing the risk of low dissolved oxygen levels for stream ecology.
‘This means the aquatic life – fish and invertebrates, which relies on healthy rivers and streams is much more prone to the impact nutrient losses and organic matter inputs which further reduced dissolved oxygen levels in the water.
‘The impact to water quality is much more significant in these drought conditions.’
