Britain ‘sleepwalking into a food crisis’ without urgent action, experts say

Food prices were already on track to be 50% higher this November than they were five years ago, and the current high temperatures are adding to the inflationary pressure. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Britain is “sleepwalking into a food crisis” caused by extreme weather, inflation and the impacts of the Iran war – and the government is failing to take the threat seriously, food experts have said.

Farmers are facing severe strain from the current heatwave following a dry spring, with many crops likely to yield less as temperatures rise beyond their tolerance. Livestock are also suffering heat stress and there is a rising risk of wildfires. Economic losses are likely to be measured in the hundreds of millions of pounds.