FARMERS around Taunton, Wellington and West Somerset are being given the chance to learn about how climate change will affect them.

Somerset County Council is hosting a free lunch as part of its Rising to the Challenge project, which is being funded as part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Climate Challenge Fund.

The council says farmers in the area are used to dealing with flooding and unpredictable weather.

But they are warning climate change is predicted to bring more extremes, including higher temperatures, greater risk of intense flooding and drought, storms and sea-level rise.

These changes will have a profound effect on agriculture with major implications for many issues ranging from irrigation and erosion to crop yields, pests and diseases.

Cllr Paul Buchanan, Somerset County Council's portfolio holder for economic development, said: "Climate change is an urgent issue for all of us.

"This farmer's lunch will be the first of many events as part of the Rising to the Challenge project, raising awareness of the what climate change means for Somerset."

The lunch is free to farmers and will take place on Tuesday, March 6, at 11.30am until 2.30pm at Neroche parish hall near Taunton.

For more information or to book your place, please contact Sue Wheeler, climate change outreach officer on 01823-355170.