Winemakers prosper but veg farms wilt in the drought

Until this year, Phil Collins, a Wiltshire vegetable farmer, had never had an overdraft. Six weeks without rain has scorched his cauliflowers, shrivelled his spuds, and shrunk his bank balance.

"Six thousand cauliflowers at £1.25 each," he said ruefully. "You do the maths."

Veg farmers across the country are warning of a shortage of produce after the driest July for 190 years . But there are winners, notably winemakers.

"The vines love the warm, dry days," said Somerset winemaker Sandy Luck.

So as the heatwaves and drought persist, who is thriving, who is struggling, and will farmers have to change what they grow in a warming climate?

Walking between the vines in Sandy Luck's Aldwick Estate vineyard, you could be in Southern France, not North Somerset. The sun is out, again, and the grapes are plump and plentiful.

"We're getting nice ''veraison' here, look at that," she says, showing me a bunch where some of the young green fruit are turning purple, tinged with grey.

Winemakers love this summer. The long hot dry days have helped ripen the fruit and "keep disease at bay", as Luck puts it. There is a subtle shift too.