UK's sunniest spring produces strawberries that are unusually sweet

DARTFORD: British strawberry farmers are reporting that this year's record-breaking spring sunshine and warm temperatures have resulted in an exceptionally large and sweet harvest.

According to James Miller from WB Chambers Farms, the combination of extended periods of sunshine and cool nights has created "perfect" conditions for strawberry production.

The dry and pleasant weather also boosted insect pollination, which further improves the quality and shape of the berries, Miller explained.

"They're bigger and sweeter this year than we've seen in previous years," said Miller, the commercial director for one of the country's biggest berry producers.

At one farm near Dartford in Kent, southeast England, rows of strawberry plants drooped with the weight of the gleaming red fruit housed in insulating polytunnels.

As farmhands made their way meticulously down the semi-circular white tunnels, punnets were filled with ripe strawberries — some the size of small fists.

The weather has resulted in "super berry size and super flavour," said Nick Marston, chairman of British Berry Growers, which represents most of the UK's soft fruit farms.

"I've been in the berry industry for 30 years and this is one of the best springs I've ever seen, in terms of both the weather and also the crop," Marston told AFP.

'Better place'

This year Britain experienced the warmest spring in terms of mean temperatures since records began in 1884, the Met Office announced this week.

It was also the second-sunniest and the driest spring in over a century for England, known for its damp climate.

Southeast England received only 30%-50% of its average spring rainfall, according to the Met Office, raising fears of drought for many farmers.

Human-induced climate change is driving longer-lasting, more intense and more frequent droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather events.

To conserve water, the WB Chambers farm in Dartford uses drip irrigation — which involves water slowly trickling to the roots of the plant through a controlled pipe.

"We've reduced our water usage for growing strawberries quite significantly," Miller told AFP. "So I hope we're in a better place than others."

According to Marston, British producers have already sold nearly 21,600 tonnes of strawberries — 5,000 tonnes more than by the same time last year, when the country experienced an overcast spring.

This is in part due to warmer conditions yielding an earlier crop than usual, with large and juicy strawberries hitting the shelves in April, rather than May.

But it is also due to a rise in demand when the sun comes out, said Miller, with consumers hankering for British summer classics like strawberries and cream.

"The sun is our biggest salesman in the UK," said Miller. "When the sun picks up, then the demand picks up."