A stark contrast is emerging across English agriculture as climate patterns shift, with vegetable growers struggling against drought conditions while winemakers report increasingly favorable growing seasons.
Vegetable farmers across the country are warning of significant produce shortages following the driest July in 190 years. Wiltshire farmer Phil Collins has lost thousands of cauliflowers and potatoes to the prolonged dry spell, with drought-resistant potato varieties failing to survive the extreme conditions. His crops have produced only about a third of normal yields, and the cost of irrigation needed to sustain plantings would price his produce far above supermarket alternatives. Collins, who operated without an overdraft for thirty years, has been forced to take one for the first time due to the financial impact.
Meanwhile, winemakers are experiencing unprecedented success. Somerset winemaker Sandy Luck reports that the warm, dry conditions are allowing English vineyards to expand beyond their traditional focus on sparkling wines and dry whites into still red wines previously impossible to produce in the cooler climate. The conditions allow grapes to develop higher sugar content and ripen fully, enabling production of higher-quality wines with greater variety. English wine production increased 55 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, demonstrating the scale of the shift.
Climate scientists at the Met Office have linked the intensifying heatwaves to climate change and project that hot, dry summers will become increasingly frequent across the UK. The changing conditions are effectively bringing central French growing conditions to South and South West England. While this benefits viticulture, vegetable farmers face an uncertain future. Collins is considering switching to Mediterranean crops such as pumpkins, though even these have struggled in the current drought. He acknowledged deep uncertainty about what crops might prove viable if the dry conditions persist.
The divergent fortunes highlight how climate shifts create winners and losers within agriculture, with some farmers positioned to adapt while others face fundamental questions about the viability of their current operations.**”
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