Summer may have only just started after weeks of rain - but fruit falling from trees suggest autumn is already here.

Experts believe the unpredictable weather may lead to the shortest summer on record for fruit growers.

The warm early spring and recent deluges are the factors behind berries in hedgerows and mushrooms springing up in the fields.

Apples have been spotted on the ground at the Brogdale Horticultural Trust near Faversham and plums at farms across the county are ripe for picking.

Ian Johnson of the National Farmers' Union said: "There is concern that seasons are becoming a lot less predictable and that will clearly have an impact on farmers."

Adrian Barlow of English Apples and Pears said some early crops were already being harvested.

Discovery apples - grown at Brogdale - are among the first to be harvested and could appear in the shops as soon as next week, he said.

Mr Barlow said: "Autumn has certainly come earlier this year."

Weather experts say the soaring spring highs were followed by the wettest summer in 200 years and this has "tricked" plants into thinking winter is on its way.