This year's freak weather is having a dramatic effect on Hungarian crops. After a May freeze nipped fruit trees in the bud, winemakers in Villány have announced that they will be picking this year's harvest of oporto grapes in August. The usual September date was brought forward because of the sustained heat and lack of rain, which means that oporto and many other varieties are already ripe for the picking. But this is not necessarily bad news: the yield may be down, but winemakers are confident that 2007 will be a vintage year. But while all the sunshine is good for the grapes, a little light rain wouldn't go amiss either, although winemaker József Bock is fussy about exactly what type of rain: "We wouldn't appreciate heavy rain - and after such heat, rain usually comes with a storm - because it would sweep away the ground in seconds, and that would cause problem. We'd like nice, quiet rain, preferably at night."

Meanwhile, no amount of rain can save an estimated one third of this year's watermelon harvest, which has been destroyed by last week's extremely hot and dry weather, writes klubradio.hu, based on a report in daily Népszava. To make matters worse for dinnye growers, according to Béla Mártonffy, chairman of the Vegetable and Fruit Trade Association and Product Commission, the season for watermelon imported from Mediterranean countries lasted longer than expected, while Hungarian crops ripened earlier than normal driving prices down. By the time Hungarian watermelon was ready for the European market, colder weather in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic had stunted demand. Daily heat records were broken for five consecutive days last week.