In a sector that has spent years discussing climate change in the future tense, this summer has rather firmly, moved the conversation into the present.
As a keen observer of agricultural innovation, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve heard the phrase ‘future-proofing’ offered up at conferences, as though the future were something politely queuing outside. This year it stopped waiting. And for anyone growing fresh produce in Britain, the shift from scenario to reality has been abrupt.
The numbers are remarkable, and not in a way any of us wanted. By mid-July the UK had already recorded more days above 30°C than the whole of 1976, and had become the first year on record to reach 35°C in May, June and July. England and Wales had taken barely a third of their average summer rainfall, and eastern and north-eastern England closer to a quarter. The Met Office has since confirmed that summer 2026 is on course to be the hottest the UK has ever recorded.