“It‘s a complete and utter nightmare. It‘s the worst I‘ve ever seen in my life.”

Mr Sunderland made a start on his wheat, cutting at a moisture content of 29%.

“The biggest challenge is not going up and down the field; it‘s avoiding the wet holes and trying not to get the combine stuck.”

16ha (40 acres) of the wheat has been harvested but he fears it might be a write-off as it‘s starting to sprout.

“In Northumberland we‘ve had torrential rain, thunderstorms and sea frets. It‘s just a combination of every sort of bad weather we could possibly have.”

“I‘ve never known morale and confidence to be so low and despair so high.”

Farmers in the area are also having big problems with sprouting in oilseed rape.

For some, sprouting incidence is up to 25%, while Mr Sunderland himself has had 14% sprouting in the 8ha (20 acres) he has still to cut.

He‘s not sure if he will be able to sell the crop because quality is so low.

Now Mr Sunderland has the dilemma of what to do for next year. The fields are completely waterlogged so nothing can be drilled.

“I‘ve got to make the decision in the next 24 hours whether or not to cancel my order of seed. The problem is the longer I wait, the higher the prices become.”

“There is not a single thing to be pleased about. It‘s bad enough the weather is affecting this years harvest, but it might also ruin next years as well – a lot of farmers are facing financial ruin.”

“I‘m a grown man and I‘ve never been put through something like this before.”