Extreme weather to push up the price of meat and veg by 5%

PRICES of vegetables, fruit, meat and dairy products could rise by at least five per cent following a year of extreme weather.

Experts at the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) suggest the combination of the big freeze seen earlier this year and the recent heatwave is likely to add around £7 a month to food bills.

They predict this will add up to a total of £45million – at a time when wage increases are barely keeping pace with the cost of essentials such as petrol and energy bills.

It comes after food industry experts warned earlier this month that root vegetables were effectively ‘cooking in the fields’.

Carrots, broccoli and lettuce are among the crops that suffered over the summer because of the high temperatures and dry spells. Harvests are down and produce is smaller than normal.

The CEBR looked at wholesale figures from March to July and found carrot prices had jumped 80 per cent, lettuce by 61 per cent, onions by 41 per cent and strawberries by 28 per cent. ‘Summer 2018 has been one of the warmest in living memory with above-average temperatures recorded since April and dry spells lasting more than 50 days in parts of the country,’ it said. ‘While this has made Britain’s weather more conducive to barbecuing, it looks set to raise the price of the food on the grill.’

The cost of wheat for bread has risen by about 20 per cent, with harvests of grain expected to be at a five-year low across Europe because the growing season has been shortened by the heat. Grass growth has also been stunted, reducing the land available for grazing and forcing farmers to splash out on expensive feed or sell animals.

This has pushed up the price of meat and dairy, with the farm gate price of butter climbing 24 per cent since March.

The National Farmers’ Union president Minette Batters said dairy farmers are each facing a bill of around £60,000 for extra feed.

Helen Dickinson of the British Retail Consortium said: ‘The hot, dry conditions we have seen across the northern hemisphere means the pressure on prices will continue for some time to come.’

Forecasters have predicted frost could settle in parts of Britain this week. The Met Office warned temperatures in areas of the West Midlands, Wales and North West England could fall to just 3C (37F) or 4C (39F) overnight tomorrow and Thursday.