It might be the last week of April but the weather had other ideas earlier on Tuesday (26 April) as snow, sleet and hail battered crops across much of the country, to the surprise of growers.

Temperatures have plummeted in the past week or so, resulting in huge variations in crop growth and far from ideal conditions for drilling and spraying.

The crazy April weather is a complete contrast to the unseasonably warm winter growers experienced earlier this season, when crop growth was thought to be worryingly forward in some cases.

See also: Video: How to get your wheat T1 fungicide timings spot on

Twitter went into a frenzy earlier today as growers and agronomists from Yorkshire to Somerset rushed to report their confusion as the freezing weather hit.

No it's not fertiliser – hail in Wiltshire today! pic.twitter.com/c8VUHV4PtO

— Andy Nash (@AndyNash_Agrii) April 26, 2016

Snowwww…noooo

— Nick Grayson (@agrinick) April 26, 2016

Cold for the last week in April.! pic.twitter.com/ExrCPPL6zy

— Jim Bullock (@JimbullockCA) April 26, 2016

Sleet! Come on Mother Nature have a word with yourself and sort this out. #cantankerouroldbag

— David Blacker (@blacker_david) April 26, 2016

Then we wonder why crops aren't growing very quickly! pic.twitter.com/qLS52qmRWx

— Richard Hammond (@lincsagronomist) April 26, 2016

Crazy pic.twitter.com/NIFLVRtS8J

— Paul Moss (@PrecisionAGPaul) April 26, 2016

Aaah pretty snowflakes……! #spring16 ??? pic.twitter.com/m14nId6qKC

— Guy Eckley (@No1FarmerGuy) April 26, 2016

Nitrogen or urea coming out of the sky #hailstones it's bloody freezing

— Jono Dixon©️ (@sunkfarmer) April 26, 2016

https://twitter.com/tandssewell/status/724940893225140225

It's snowing !?! Check out the flowering OSR behind! #latesnow #madweather pic.twitter.com/HcIZ2lAolx

— andy fussell (@andy_fuss) April 26, 2016

Oh lovely, hailstones , not. pic.twitter.com/MhFSKrKsF2

— Malc Parr 🇬🇧 (@tractorman07) April 26, 2016

Is this actually a joke?! pic.twitter.com/QQ8AYqOCls

— Ed Salmon (@EdSalmon1) April 26, 2016

Hail stones near royston. pic.twitter.com/nVXrQKJNr9

— Samuel Deane (@ArableSam) April 26, 2016

T1 walks in the snow #FUBAR

— James Grantham (@jwbgrantham) April 26, 2016

if I hadn't been walking with him I'd have said @Fyfieldfarmer had been spreading urea!!! Hail in April. #spring16 pic.twitter.com/bwHQJUUawg

— Tim Bullock (@cropwalkertim) April 26, 2016