The heat and dry conditions are taking their toll on agriculture.

Jeremy Clarkson claims he was told to stop harvesting at his Diddly Squat Farm because of the fire risk it posed during the heatwave.

He took to Twitter to tell his fans: ‘F**ketty f**k. Had to stop harvesting because of, and I’m not making this up, the fire risk.’

One fan commented: "At least it will make a nice episode plot", to which Mr Clarkson responded: "Yes, except we’ve finished season 2 already."

Another urged him to ‘stay safe’ amid the soaring temperatures.

Mr Clarkson replied: "Safe? B*****ks to that. I’m trying to harvest next year’s Hawkstone."

He added that he has been trying to beat the heat by working in the early hours, explaining: "We went till 2am and started again at 5. It’s hard work but you all like beer and bread so best not to complain eh?"

A follower asked him: "Are you finding this side of farming any easier now you’ve been doing it for a bit longer?"

He replied: "I still have terrible stress that’s what I need to learn. To accept that I can’t control weather events."

When temperatures reached a recorde 40.3 degrees in July Mr Clarkson lost one of his pigs due to the extreme heat. 

He told fans at the time that the "global warming is now over," adding: "Tragically, its brief visit took the life of my big pig. RIP pig."

He added: "It’s very hot in the south of France but so far as I know, there’s no DefCon 8 level 3 killer death heatwave warning in place."

According to the NFU, “tinder dry” standing crops and parched grass posed a huge risk of fires spreading.

Mark Hardingham, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, said: “While we are likely to see more wildfires due to the current conditions, it is impossible to say whether this will be more than when the country experienced 40-degree temperatures.

“The bigger risk at the moment is a combination of temperature and wind speed, which will contribute to fire spread and makes incidents harder to manage and extinguish.”

However, he added brigades were “well prepared and have plans in place” to respond.

 

 

 

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