British Flower Growers Sound the Alarm as Unpredictable Weather Disrupts Crops

British flower farmers have issued a stark warning about potential shortages this summer, particularly for weddings, after enduring one of the driest springs on record.

Typically, around 10% of the flowers bought in the UK come from domestic growers. But this year, growers say they are grappling with increasingly erratic weather conditions that are disrupting harvests and reducing yields.

Yorkshire and the northwest of England are already officially in drought, following the UK’s driest spring in over a century. With rainfall still scarce in many parts of the country, more areas could soon follow, and at least one water company is preparing to announce a hosepipe ban.

Among those affected is Roisin Taylor, who runs Verde Flower Co in Northumberland. Speaking to The Times, she said: “I’m trying to meet deadlines for weddings, so timing is really critical. The drought has pushed everything back.

“It’s given me shorter stems. The water collection has been an absolute nightmare. So it has had quite a significant impact.”

Taylor also noted that the weather has disrupted her growing schedule, adding: “It’s become less predictable, year on year, when a crop will be available.”

The challenges faced by flower growers were echoed at this year’s Groundswell farming conference, where concerns were raised about the growing impact of climate change on British horticulture.

Olivia Wilson, who runs a flower farm in Bellingdon, Buckinghamshire, said: “It’s been very difficult because of drought.”

She explained that many of her plants have been “stress flowering” due to the heat – producing blooms prematurely in response to the lack of water.

This follows an unusually wet 2024, which left many fields flooded and unusable for weeks on end.

“I keep thinking, ‘This year will be more normal’. Last year was incredibly rainy. It’s not the drought per se, it’s the unpredictability,” Wilson said.

Herefordshire farmer Martin Williams added: “You keep thinking that next week it’s going to arrive but it hasn’t. It’s got to the stage where it’s beyond repair.”

Cissy Bullock, of the industry body Flowers from the Farm, warned that growers are facing the consequences of climate change head-on. She said its members are the ones who “sit on the front line” and “feel the changes in climate first”.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed, who also spoke at Groundswell, acknowledged the mounting pressures. He told farmers that some land might need to be diverted away from food production to serve broader needs, including housing, energy and biodiversity.

“It envisions taking some of the least productive land out of food production [and] supporting the more productive land to increase production,” he said.

With the summer wedding season now in full swing, British florists and farmers alike are hoping for a break in the weather – and soon.