Farmers say wettest July since records began is costing them thousands of pounds each week

North West farmers say the wettest July since records began is having a huge impact on them with sodden fields costing thousands of pounds every week.

Andrew Pemberton's family has worked this land for 143 years and has never known a summer like this one.

He says moving cows to other fields, keeping them inside or finding alternative feed adds thousands to his costs.

Andrew said: "It has been quite devastating really. We don't normally get this amount of water. We can cope with the average or 20%-40% above the average but 300% above the average rainfall in July on the Fylde Coast here?

"The animals suffer because they can't get to the forage, the fields are taking a hammering. It's knocked our season to pot."

Andrew and his son say they are being forced to rapidly adapt to a changing climate but even their extra large drainage system struggles to cope. Opening the cover doesn't reveal the pipework several feet below.

Tom Pemberton said: "The water levels have never been like this before. Maybe a freak 2012 and 2015 - we had a freak weather system then."

The price farmers get for what they rear and grow is constantly squeezed. If extremes of weather make the business of cultivating land trickier, the maths of business becomes trickier too.