First strawberries a week early after mild winter
STRAWBERRIES are due to hit supermarkets a week earlier than last year after the mildest winter in 350 years.
The home-grown produce is set to arrive on the shelves later this week. Temperatures in central England have been an average of 7c (44.6f) this winter – the warmest since records were first collected in 1659.
The strawberries have been grown and ripened on the Hall Hunter Farm in the village of Leythorne, West Sussex.
But conditions there have been replicated across much of the rest of the country, with daffodils and other spring flowers making an appearance before Christmas.
Waitrose strawberry buyer Nicki Baggott said: ‘The arrival of these first English strawberries shows that, despite the recent cold snap, spring is now well on its way and those pining for sunshine can start to prepare summery dishes such as Eton Mess and strawberries and cream.’
The average temperature for the UK in December, January and February was 5.6c (42f), well above the long-term norm of 3.7c (38.7f). This makes it the third warmest across the UK since records were collected for the whole country going back to 1910.
For England and Wales alone, temperatures have been more than 2c (3.6f) above longterm averages.
However, the warm weather has often combined with storms and downpours that have caused flooding in many parts of the country. Early figures released by the Met Office show that the season up to February 24 is on track to be one of the wettest since 1910.
Average rainfall across the UK over the colder months has been just over 20 inches, second only to the record wet winter of 2013/2014. Scotland and wales have both experienced their wettest winter on record.
Britain’s farmers have found innovative ways to increase the growing seasons for crops like strawberries, tomatoes and asparagus. Hardy varieties have been developed and many crops are now grown under the protection of vast polytunnels – some under LED lights when the nights get longer.
Despite the mild weather so far, forecasters say cold air could be driven south over Britain this month and early April, threatening the garden flowers that have been fooled into believing spring has already arrived.