UK - Driest April On Record, Rainfall Down By More Than 50% - Guardian
One of the driest Aprils on record could ruin crops in the most arid parts of the country if it does not start raining soon, farmers have warned.
Whisky and beer production could be affected if May and June prove similarly dry, with crops such as malting barley particularly vulnerable if not given enough water when they sprout in spring, according to Guy Smith, the vice-chair of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). “A good May may put them back on track but it’s last chance saloon for them,” he said.
The UK as a whole experienced just 47% of the average April rainfall. Southern England was the driest area, with 16mm, most of which fell at the end of the month, the Met Office said.
Smith, an arable farmer in St Osyth, near Clacton in Essex, which once held the Guinness World Record for driest place in Britain, said his farm had received just 10% of the rain he would normally expect in April. “If that pattern carries on, we are looking at producing half our normal harvest,” he said. “Even as far away as Scotland we are hearing of arable farmers whose crops are worryingly dry. Some of the old boys are reminiscing about 1976, when we had a similar run of dry weather through March and April, which carried on right through May, June and July. I remember my dad had less than half of his anticipated harvest.”
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/09/uk-farmers-fear-for-crops-after-driest-april-on-record-in-the-uk
