Strawberry yields: wet then warm weather leads to bumper UK harvest

An extra 40-50 tonnes a week' could be heading to shop shelves because of perfect conditions, says fruit grower

The recent spell of warm weather after a rainy and cloudy start to the summer has provided perfect growing conditions in Britain for as much as 200 tonnes of surprise big, juicy, luscious" strawberries heading to shop shelves, a leading supplier has said.

The cold and wet spell earlier in the year, plus the recent mini heatwave, have resulted in pushing more of our predicted crop volume into late July and early August," said Lee Port, the chief executive of the Kent-based fruit grower Mansfields.