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

Over the past year, shoppers spent a record £847m on strawberries, Kantar figures show. Photograph: Jonathan Knowles/Getty Images

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.