FARMERS could be dealing with the effects of the recent heatwave until early next year, an expert has warned.

Rupert Wailes-Fairbairn, of rural insurance specialists Lycetts, said many farmers were facing “crisis point”, despite a recent break in the hot weather.

He also said with climatologists predicting that extreme heatwaves each summer could become the norm, the “worst could be yet to come” with the future of some agricultural businesses “hanging in the balance”.

Mr Wailes-Fairbairn, who is based in Newcastle, said: “Farmers have been battling to survive, faced with drought conditions, tinderbox fields, and livestock they can’t feed.

“Crop yields are down, at least ten per cent, due to the dryness, resulting in food shortages for livestock and poor harvests.

“There is no grass for cows to graze and farmers are being forced to use diminishing winter stocks to keep them going.

“This paves the way for a very challenging six months ahead.”