This past 18 months have been very bad for our soil and crops. The severe winter of 2017/18 and then the long very dry summer, plus a relatively dry winter last year has not given the ground chance to recover. Its been unusually dry for 18 months continuously.
This has compacted the soil, making it hard for the rain to penetrate when it does rain, and the deluges run off the ground, causing flooding, and the ground under the first cm or so remains dry and parched. Plus the hotter summers make much of the rain evaporate before it has chance to sink in.