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With June 2018 clocking in as Britain’s sunniest month since July 2013, both ground-mounted and roof-mounted solar arrays are pumping out the kilowatts.

The NFU's chief adviser for renewable energy and climate change, Dr Jonathan Scurlock said:

"At times, solar power has been generating more than a quarter of UK electricity output (nearly 28 per cent at lunchtime on 30 June).

For 11 out of the past 12 days in a row, electricity from the sun has peaked at over eight gigawatts (GW) - about twice the maximum rating of the giant Drax power station in Yorkshire. 

On average over this period, solar has been generating around 7-8% of total UK electricity, breaking weekly and monthly output records and pushing wind power into second place, at about 6-7%."

The NFU estimates that farmers own or host more than two-thirds of Britain's solar power installations - about 9GW out of 13GW of capacity.

With costs still falling, an increasing number of NFU members are finding a good business case for on-site solar PV generation, with or without government support. 

The heatwave looks set to continue until at least mid-July.