Machinery in a more extreme climate: drought, fire, flood and frost checklists

What has changed

The Met Office's State of the UK Climate 2025 report, published in 2026, found that 2025 was the UK's warmest year on record, the sixth time the record has been broken this century, and the sunniest in a series going back to 1910. The hottest day of the year in south-east England is now more than 4.5C warmer than in 1961-1990, and the number of days over 30C in Greater London has more than quadrupled. Spring 2025 was the driest for England in over 100 years, with most areas of England and Wales getting less than half of normal rainfall. The lead author's summary was that what used to be thought of as extreme is increasingly normal.

For machinery, that means harvests in hotter, drier and dustier conditions with more fire risk, more pressure to get field work done in short windows between dry and wet spells, and a continuing need to plan for flooding and cold snaps. The checklists below deal with each.

Hot, dry harvests: combine fire prevention

Dry crops and dust create fuel that collects on hot engine and exhaust parts, bearings and electrics. Oregon State University Extension's guide to preventing and responding to combine fires sets out a practical routine:

• Blow the combine down with compressed air at least once a day during harvest, and more often in dusty crops; the guide notes some crops may need cleaning as often as every 30 acres (about 12 ha).
• Power wash to remove grease and oil deposits that help fire spread.
• Check bearing temperatures with an infrared thermometer before and during harvest. The guide gives 125-150F (about 52-66C) as normal and treats temperatures above 300F (about 150C) as a reason to shut down immediately.
• Inspect wiring in hard-to-reach areas for loose or chafed wires, and treat repeated blown fuses as a sign of a short.
• Remember exhaust components can run at 1,000-1,200F (about 540-650C); heat shields and mesh around the turbocharger and exhaust reduce the risk of chaff ignition.
• Carry fire extinguishers, and know the PASS method: pull the pin, aim at the base of the fire, squeeze the lever, sweep side to side.

If a fire starts

Oregon State's guidance is to shut the machine off straight away, because running fans feed oxygen to the fire; move into an already harvested area if it is safe to do so; call the emergency services and neighbours; avoid opening doors or hatches, which lets in more air; and use firebreaks, at least 20 ft (about 6 m) wide in standing crop and 10 ft (about 3 m) in harvested areas. Keep a tractor and cultivator or disc hitched and ready near the field on high-risk days so a break can be cut quickly.

Balers and straw stacks need the same care; see our round versus square baler guide for hay moisture and stack temperature limits.

Flood: before you restart anything

A tractor that has stood in floodwater may start and run, which makes it tempting to carry on. NC State Extension warns against that: do not attempt to start a flood-exposed tractor until it has been properly cleaned and serviced, because water and grit in bearings and gearboxes cause damage that appears after a few hours' use. Its reconditioning steps include:

• Drain engine oil and check for water; replace oil filters.
• Drain the fuel tank completely, discard the fuel filter, flush the tank and blow out fuel lines.
• Check the cylinders for water before turning the engine, using a borescope if possible, and clean the radiator fins.
• Drain and inspect transmission, differential and final drive oils, and replace the transmission filter; drain and refill the front axle housing on four-wheel-drive tractors if water may have entered.
• Disconnect the battery, and remove, clean and dry the starter, alternator and connectors; inspect wiring for corrosion.
• Clean and repack wheel bearings and grease kingpins and pivots.
• If the tractor was fully submerged the risk of serious damage is high, and a dealer overhaul may be needed. Tell your insurer before starting work.

Cold snaps and frost

Cold weather problems are mostly avoidable with preparation. Check coolant antifreeze strength with a refractometer or tester before winter, and use the coolant type the engine maker specifies. Buy winter-grade diesel from your supplier for the colder months and keep tanks topped up to reduce condensation; drain water separators regularly. Check battery condition and terminals, because cold reduces starting power. Store machines under cover where possible, drain water from sprayers, washers and pumps according to the manufacturer's frost-protection procedure, and park loaders and implements lowered to the ground.

Before the first frost, walk round every machine that lives outside and note anything holding water, such as sprayer lines, pressure washers, water bowsers and cab screen-wash reservoirs, then drain or protect each one as its manual describes.

Working the short windows

When dry spells are short and wet spells long, the farms that cope best are the ones whose machines are ready to go on the first workable day. Service, calibrate and set up drills, sprayers and combines well before the season, carry the wear parts most likely to fail, and agree contractor or neighbour back-up in advance. Check ground conditions before travelling: working soil that is too wet causes compaction that is slow and costly to correct, and our soil compaction, tyres and tracks guide covers pressures and load limits that widen the window. Weather-resilient crop establishment is covered in our climate-resilient planting guide, and water supply in our irrigation and water management guide.

When replacing machines, weigh capacity against the length of your realistic weather window rather than average conditions; the FarmFleets machine search lets you compare working widths and power across models.

Sources

Sources checked 2026-09-25

• Met Office: Climate extremes are becoming the new normal for the UK (State of the UK Climate 2025) — checked 2026-09-25
• Met Office: 2025 is double record breaker, UK's warmest and sunniest year on record — checked 2026-09-25
• Oregon State University Extension: Preventing and responding to combine fires (EM 9326) — checked 2026-09-25
• NC State Extension: Reconditioning flood-damaged tractors — checked 2026-09-25

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