Europe facing hottest day ever, as UK farmers are offered relief
EUROPE is bracing for the hottest day ever recorded, as UK farmers are told they will be allowed to breach restrictions on using river water to save crops.
The Met Office predicted that records of 117.1F (47.3C) for Spain and 117.3F (47.4C) for Portugal were likely to be broken over the next few days, prompting the Foreign Office to warn tourists about the risks of forest fires.
Experts confirmed that the British summer of 2018 is officially hotter than that of 1976, with last month the thirdwarmest July on record.
Temperatures in southern England were expected to return to near-record levels above 86F (30C) from tomorrow as hot air originating over the Sahara blew north, forecasters said.
The continuing heatwave prompted an emergency meeting between farming leaders and Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, leading to a promise by the Environment Agency (EA) to relax laws preventing farmers extracting water.
The danger to crops and livestock means the agency will make it easier to take water from rivers following heavy rain to prevent their produce failing, the first time such flexibility has been allowed since 2012. Farmers will also be allowed to trade water allowances between themselves.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) described the meeting as a “wake-up call” for the Government on the need to protect against future volatility.
Minette Batters, the NFU president, said: “The impacts of the dry and hot weather have been hugely challenging for many farms across the country.”
As well as the threat to crops, livestock farmers are finding it increasingly hard to feed their herds, the NFU warned, calculating that the additional cost of fodder will set farms back by £60,000 each on average.
It emerged yesterday that United Utilities, the beleaguered firm providing water to the North West, has applied to the EA for a further two drought permits to top up its reservoirs ahead of a hosepipe ban from Sunday.
Heavy rainfall from the weekend has failed to prevent the ban – the only such restriction in mainland Britain – sparking anger among customers, accusing the firm of failing to maintain its infrastructure and leaking too much water. Parts of Lancaster yesterday suffered from flash flooding as more rain overwhelmed the drains.
Richard Miles, Met Office forecaster, said: “With 118F (48C) expected in Iberia, highs are likely to beat records. Tourists in Spain and Portugal need to take care in such high temperatures.
“Continental heat will move up to Britain from the south. The low 30s are possible from Friday to Sunday. The South and East will be hottest and it will be a warm weekend for most, although cooler in the North.”
Paul Hickley, head of water resources at the EA, said emergency abstraction by farmers would only be allowed in the case of “real or imminent threat to crops and livestock”.
“We know that farmers are facing considerable pressures in responding to drought conditions and we want to support them by allowing them to flex their abstraction licences in the most serious cases to safeguard food production and animal welfare.”