Strawberries set for bumper summer as record spring helps produce one of biggest crops ever seen

Strawberries are set for a bumper British summer with crops on course to be the largest ever following the country's warmest spring on record.

Unprecedented levels of sunshine in recent weeks has resulted in supermarkets ordering extra supplies of homegrown berries, with experts claiming strawberry production has increased by 20 per cent compared to previous years.

The Met Office today confirmed the UK had recorded the sunniest spring since records began in 1929 with over 573 hours of sunshine across the season.

Only nine springs have seen more than 500 hours of sunshine in UK history, with the previous sunniest being 555.3 hours in 1948.

Tesco buyer Laura Mitchell said the unseasonably warm weather had resulted in "exceptionally good" berries, with increased crops in southern England, Staffordshire, Lancashire and Leicestershire as well as across Scotland and Wales.

The supermarket said it had bought an extra 300 tons of British-grown strawberries because of the increased availability.

Ms Mitchell said: "It's resulted in exceptionally good quality and sweet strawberries with sugar levels boosted by the plants enjoying the longer, sunny days.”

Phillip Busby, who works as a grower at Busby Partners in Chilcote in Leicestershire, said: "Tesco is helping the growers move excess crop, saving on food waste, and with quality being so good it's a really great offer."

Nick Marston, chairman of industry body British Summer Fruits, said that growers have been producing annual increases in strawberries in the UK for several years now, with the amount of strawberries grown rising since 2016.

“I would expect this year to see at least another 10 per cent increase,” he said. “You don’t know what the crop will be, but I would expect to see a crop in excess of 100,000 tonnes.

“The good weather means that increase is more sure. In terms of fruit quality, it means that the buries themselves are larger, juicier and have better flavour.”

Mr Marston added that bright sunny days and the cool nights at this time of year, especially with more sunshine than usual, will mean strawberry quality is consistently high, and that the berries “will taste great”.

“We expect them to be good value as they always are. People are buying a lot more fruit and a lot more strawberries despite the changed experience in shops.”

Paul Avery, sales director at suppliers Berryworld UK, said: "The British strawberry crop is in great shape this year and it's on track to be one of the biggest ever.

"The quality is superb and we're working hard to bring an iconic piece of summer to the British public."