Scotch on the rocks: distilleries fear climate crisis will endanger whisky production

Scotland's whisky-makers reveal they had to halt production in 2018 heatwave because they ran out of water

Scotland's nature conservation agency last week painted an apocalyptic vision of a country devastated by the climate crisis, from polluted rivers to eroded peatlands and forests devoid of birds. Now comes a warning about another part of Scottish culture which could, it is feared, also be hit by global heating: whisky.

Scottish distilleries have revealed that during last year's blistering heatwave, they had to halt production because they ran out of water. In a summer marked by high temperatures and little rainfall, water levels in springs and rivers fell so low that in the Scottish Highlands some whisky makers missed up to a month's production.