EU facing food crisis as Super El Nino Hits Harvest

 

 

by Xavier Connolly, 20 August 2026  

A huge slump in crop yields will lead to higher grocery bills for consumers and more inflation, economists have warned, as Europe's hot dry summer looks set to drag on into the autumn. All this comes on top of the European Union's efforts to put farmers out of business in pursuit of their loonytoons net zero ambitions

Damaged corn in a field, San Daniele Po, Italy, June 23, 2026. ©  Piero Cruciatti/Anadolu via Getty Images

Farmers' organisations and GovernmentAgriculture departments across the Europe have warned of sharp drops in yields after  the continent has been hit by successive heatwaves this summer. Economists have said the losses are likely to push food prices higher in the coming months and will make many small farms, already hit by authoritarian EU measures, unable to make a profit from producing food.

June and July were among the hottest and dryest on record in western Europe, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, which warned of a “continued risk of heatwaves affecting much of Europe” through August and into September.

In France, one of the EU’s largest grain producers, groundwater reserves  are severely depleted across much of the country by early August that crop yields are expected to be significantly lower, according to the national geological survey.

In an extraordinary early forecast, Coceral, the industry body representing the cereals, oilseeds, rice and olive oil sectors, cut its estimates for grain crops in European countries, including the UK, to 286.6 million tonnes. This is around 9 million tonnes lower than its June estimate of 295.5 million tonnes and almost ten per cent down ob the 310 million tonnes harvested in 2025. 

The outlook for maize has deteriorated further, with Coceral warning that heat stress is now affecting pollination in key growing regions. Further losses may be realised, as additional hot weather is forecast across other parts of the EU during the critical late summer growing period. These figures all point to food shortages and price inflation in the coming winter.

Tom Lancaster, land, food and farming analyst at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said: “The June heatwave and drought came at a terrible time for European cereal farmers, hitting crop development and reducing yields across the continent. This will hit farmers in the pockets and undermining European food security at the same time. 
 
But while the problem is obviously serious, far too many 'experts' are simply blaming 'climate change' without doing any research, even though numerous scientists have now broken ranks and said climate change is natural and there is no crisis. If so call climate change has caused this summer's drought and the resultant impact of water shortages on food production, what caused the one 50 years ago when global warming was not yet a thing.

The long, hot Summer of 1976 happened in the middle of an unusually cold decade, supposedly leading climate scientists of the day to warn of an imminent  new ice-age. How do the Warmageddonists  explain that?

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