Severe weather impacts British potato industry

Adverse weather has caused disruption across much of Great Britain this week. Some markets have reportedly benefited from consumers staying put at home and relying on cooking for themselves, although others were suffering as demand for out of home eating decreased. For the most part crops are storing fine, however, there were increasing reports of sprouting and some crops starting to deteriorate quite quickly. Some growers have also been concerned about crops in stores as the temperatures dropped significantly this week, to lows of -9 degrees Celsius in some places. Reports suggest only around half of the early Cornish crop that would normally be in by this date has been planted. Some of this crop is thought to have been damaged by the recent weather, but it will be a little while before the extent of the damage is clear. As “The Beast from The East” hit the UK this week there was significant disruption to movement, especially in the East. More