The horrendous summer weather has caused more damage over the weekend - and this time it's the English apple crop in Kent which has suffered.

The heavy rain and hailstorms which hit the Garden of England over the last two days have badly damaged the fruit which was, up till now, maturing nicely on the trees, according to report from Freshinfo - the fresh fruit and vegetable business news service.

Particularly hard hit was the Braeburn crop grown by FW Mansfield and Son of Chartham, just outside Canterbury. Proprietor Paul Mansfield reckoned that 70 acres of this variety had been lost and that the hail had been so intense that, apart from decimating the crop, it had dented cars and cracked windscreens.

It's expected that growers will have to thin out surviving crops by removing damaged fruit, or in more severe cases, the apples will be suitable for juicing only - but the news must be taken in context, as the UK apple crop was running at a 20% increase on 2006 figures. Even with the recent damage, says Adrian Barlow of English Apples & Pears, the 2007 crop is still likely to exceed last years total by as much as 5%.

Experts at the Met Office have forecast that the remainder of this summer should see a return to more average weather conditions, with any lengthy hot and dry spells few and far between and rainfall totals - especially in the south of the UK - heading down.