Extreme weather could push UK food prices up this year, say farmers

Crops are wilting in parched fields, lowering the yields of kitchen staples including meat, wheat, potatoes, onions and milk

Staple foods from bread to potatoes, onions, milk and meat may be in shorter supply than usual this year and prices to consumers may have to rise, farmers have said, as they count the cost of the two-month drought and heatwave across the UK.

There will be little respite from the hot weather in many areas of the country, even as thunderstorms and heavy rains spread from the east, as farmers have seen their crops wilt, their fields parched and livestock struggle in the extreme conditions.