Lack of rainfall is continuing to delay the establishment of winter cereals – with south-east England bearing the brunt of problems.

UK rainfall totalled 48.9mm during October, according to Met Office figures – just 38% of the 30-year average and the lowest level for this month since 1972 (47.5mm).

In addition, October marks the driest month of the year for the UK, said the Met Office.

See also: Drought and flea beetle wipe out 70,000ha of English oilseed rape

Looking regionally, south-east and southern England have had the driest conditions with just 33.3mm of rainfall in October.

Eastern Scotland had 77.7mm of rain and was the wettest area in the UK in October, but this was still only 58% of the 30-year average.

In south Essex, min-till farmer Ed Ford said he was still hoping to drill winter wheat.

“This has been the worst season ever,” said Mr Ford, who farms at Childerditch, Brentwood. “We have had 48mm of rain since 25 June here.”

Some 14-15mm of rain has fallen over the weekend but this has now made it too wet to drill land after rape, he added.

“We are holding out against blackgrass too – we are parked up again because it wasn’t going well enough. It is a real shame – we want to get on, but we can’t.”

Essex farmer and contractor Tom Bradshaw, who farms north of Colchester, said: “It has been incredibly dry.”

Mr Bradshaw said he had been lucky at home and caught a big shower on 18 September that delivered 30mm of rain, but some other farms had seen less than 10mm.

“We didn’t drill any rape – it was the best decision we’ve made, but that was due to problems with flea beetle rather than the rain.

“But we’ve finished drilling and we’re reasonably happy with most of what has come up – although we are still waiting for some of it because it was drilled in the last two weeks.”

The biggest concern was that pre-emergence sprays wouldn’t work due to lack of moisture, said Mr Bradshaw, who has drilled 650ha of wheat, 200ha of barley and 50ha of winter beans.

“We are so reliant on the pre-em part of the blackgrass control programme that my big fear is we could end up with some very messy crops.”

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board said dryness in October could add complications to planted areas for harvest 2017.

The dry autumn, particularly in eastern England, had anecdotally impacted plantings and the viability of a number of crops, said the AHDB.