Heatwave Stalls UK Crops As Growers Sound Water Alarm

Britain’s prolonged heatwave is disrupting fresh produce growth, squeezing harvesting windows and placing mounting pressure on growers’ water supplies.

As first reported by The Grocer, some fruit and vegetable crops are slowing significantly or entering a dormant state as they struggle with sustained high temperatures.

Nationwide Produce warned that irrigation resources were coming under increasing pressure, while dry soils and heat-stressed plants were creating additional challenges across the sector.

Although the UK experienced four heatwaves last year, the supplier said this year’s periods of extreme heat had been more prolonged, with a record nine days on which temperatures reached 34°C or above.

Brassica crops have been particularly affected. At this stage of the season, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli and Tenderstem broccoli would ordinarily be growing rapidly and moving through fields in substantial volumes. Instead, Nationwide Produce said sustained heat was causing some crops to slow down or stop growing altogether.

The conditions are also affecting the size and appearance of produce, prompting calls for greater flexibility from customers around specifications.

Tim O’Malley, chairman of Nationwide Produce, said British growers were working extremely hard to maintain supplies in difficult conditions and needed support across the supply chain.

He urged businesses to make sensible adjustments to specifications and recognise that crops may naturally vary in size, shape and appearance during extreme weather.

“That does not make it any less suitable or enjoyable,” he said.

Harvesting is also becoming more difficult. High daytime temperatures can prevent workers from continuing throughout the day, leaving growers with a much narrower period in which crops can be safely picked and brought in.

Mark Nundy, managing director at Windy Ridge Veg, said the problem extended beyond individual exceptionally hot days. Growers were facing the cumulative consequences of persistent heat, increasingly dry soils and limited opportunities to replenish water supplies.

Many businesses have invested heavily in farm reservoirs and more efficient irrigation systems, but the industry has stressed that these measures alone cannot resolve the growing challenge.

Nundy called for government support for farm reservoirs and efficient irrigation, greater flexibility around water abstraction and longer-term investment in regional water infrastructure.

The concerns are supported by the Environment Agency’s latest assessment of dry weather conditions in England. The agency said the heatwave was increasing demand on farm reservoirs and abstraction licences used for irrigation and livestock drinking water. It also reported a rapid decline in irrigation reservoir storage during the spring, warning that continued dry weather would increase risks to supplies and resilience later in the year.

In June, irrigation reservoirs in some areas were reported to be only 50% to 60% full.

The disruption is not confined to brassicas. Nationwide Produce said the soft fruit season had become increasingly unpredictable, with growers moving between periods of oversupply and tighter availability as crops ripened in less consistent flushes.

Potato and onion crops are also causing concern, as both experience slower growth during prolonged periods of high temperatures.

The increasingly volatile conditions are placing further pressure on growers already managing rising production costs, while raising the prospect of tighter availability and more variation in British produce as the season progresses.