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Torrential downpours on Saturday 23 July has wreaked havoc in the north-west with parts of Derry, Tyrone and Donegal all affected.
Close to three inches of rainfall was recorded in some areas in just three hours, with a further one inch of rain on Sunday night.
While flooding of roads, dwelling houses and town centres made the main news headlines, farmland was also a casualty of freak rain storms, with crops in particular taking a battering.
The intensity and volume of rain caused large swathes of barley, wheat and oilseed rape to lodge, and where crops have been desiccated for harvesting, grain loss has also been a problem.
On the outskirts of Limavady, Co Derry, David Gault said his farm received 65mm (2.5in) of rain on Saturday evening with one six acre field of winter wheat hit hardest.
“The field is at least two weeks from being ripe for harvesting. Birds are eating the downed grain now, so there will very little left to cut,” said David.
With 80 acres of winter crops burned off and ready to cut, the recent weather has been a “disaster”, he maintained.
“We managed to get some winter barley harvested last week, but we were holding back and just cutting fields we knew we could get baled up before rain. If we don’t get some good weather soon, we will be in bother,” David added.
Further damage
With drier weather in the second half of this week, combines should start rolling once land dries out. However, farmers in the area are fearful that further rain will hinder progress, and with crops ripe for cutting, any delays will result in lower yields through grain loss.
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