England has had one of its worst harvests on record, according to analysis from climate experts who warn global warming is to blame.

The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said official figures published on Thursday by the Environment Department (Defra) showed England had its second worst harvest since 1983, after last year’s very wet autumn and winter.

Figures show the 2024 English wheat harvest was down 22 per cent on 2023, and was the smallest since 2020, when wet weather last affected autumn planting.

The barley harvest is up slightly, with a decrease in winter barley offset by an in increase in spring barley, and oats production was up by a fifth, although oilseed rape production was down by a third compared to last year, the data shows.

Defra said that following a very wet July, drier and warmer weather in early August helped the start of the harvest in England, but further wet conditions disrupted progress in many regions through August into September.

Now, with some areas of England hit by record September rainfall, the ECIU is warning farmers face a repeat of the past year in 2025.

And the think tank is pointing the finger at climate change, which scientific analysis has shown made autumn and winter storms over the UK and Ireland last year wetter.

The assessment by scientists from the World Weather Attribution network earlier this year showed downpours were made 20 per cent heavier by climate change, in the series of storms which battered the UK and Ireland in 2023/2024 causing flooding and leaving famers with waterlogged fields.

Tom Lancaster, land, food and farming analyst at ECIU, said: “This year’s harvest was a shocker, and climate change is to blame.

“Whilst shoppers have been partly insulated by imports picking up some of the slack, Britain’s farmers have borne the brunt of the second worst harvest on record.

“It is clear that climate change is the biggest threat to UK food security.

“And these impacts are only going to get worse until we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to net zero, in order to stop the warming that is driving these extremes.”

He called on the Government to invest in sustainable farming in the Budget this month, or face worsening impacts of climate change on agriculture in the years ahead.

Colin Chappell, an arable farmer in Lincolnshire, described being on a “knife edge” in the face of the latest wet conditions.

“Last week we had almost two inches of rain within 36 hours here and we’re not the worst off.

“Some farms in southern England have lost their crops for the second year in a row.

“Many will now be relying on spring wheat once again this year, which only produces about half as much as winter wheat.”

He said: “We’re getting into a situation where autumn planting is becoming unviable due to flooding and spring planting is risky because of drought.

“It is causing a lot of nervousness and uncertainty. Farmers are going to need support to see them through this and ensure they are resilient in the future.”

ECIU’s analysis is based on Defra data for production of key crops, wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape from 1999 to 2024, and production estimates based on yields and area data for 1983-1999.