UK Drought Forces Vegetable Imports from Spain
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- Riviera Produce's David Simmons says UK broccoli yields have halved, with growers combining two heads to reach standard pack weights, and warns cauliflowers could be the next shortage within weeks
- Wholesale prices for tomatoes have jumped more than 60%, iceberg lettuce 90% and potatoes more than 40% as drought and high temperatures hit UK farms, even those equipped with irrigation
- Nationwide Produce's Tim O'Malley says his firm 'went back to Spain' last week for leafy greens and broccoli normally sourced from the UK between May and late summer, adding: 'It is worse than the public realise. We are running out of water'
- Fen Peas' Stephen Francis reports the English pea harvest is down by a third, with growers trialling southern European varieties that tolerate higher temperatures
- Rodger Hobson, a Yorkshire carrot grower producing about 4% of the UK crop, calls 2025 the 'worst we've ever known' and warns the main carrot crop could run out months early in spring without significant rainfall
- More than 100 organisations, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Aldi plus food manufacturers and wholesalers, wrote to Andy Burnham urging the government to treat food system resilience as a national priority
- The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board says the UK cereals harvest is the earliest in at least 20 years after a year of exceptionally hot, dry weather
Why it matters: Britain still grows 97% of its own carrots and typically produces most of its summer vegetables — that self-sufficiency is now visibly eroding, with shoppers likely to see smaller potatoes, damaged tomatoes and higher prices through next spring. The unprecedented joint letter from every major UK supermarket chain frames climate-driven crop failure as a national food-security issue rather than a farming-sector problem.
