European farmers are warning of falling food production and rising prices after extreme heat, drought and wildfires damaged crops across the continent this summer. Olive oil, already expensive following previous price spikes, is expected to rise further as groves in Greece, Italy and Portugal have been hit by fire, ash and poor air quality, while other affected produce ranges from grapes and cereals to salad vegetables and citrus fruit.

France's Légumes de France association reported thousands of tonnes of vegetables lost, with some crop yields expected to halve, while Champagne growers now anticipate their earliest-ever harvest, around 15 August, with yields down roughly 10% on last year. Spain's cereal crop is forecast to fall from 24m to about 18.5m tonnes, even before wildfire damage is accounted for, and the EU has cut harvest predictions for sunflowers (down 7%), maize (down 6%) and potatoes and soya beans (down 3%). Not all countries have suffered equally, with Romania benefiting from more rain and Italy's wheat crop holding up well, but industry groups say the overriding concern is rising production costs rather than trade disruption.