UK faces pumpkin shortage at Halloween after summer of heatwaves

Harvest could be reduced by around a third following scorching summer

The UK could face a shortage of pumpkins this Halloween after a summer of heatwaves, a farmer has warned.

Prolonged dry weather means farmers are experiencing pumpkin harvests reduced by about a third.

Guy French, who runs Foxes Farm with his wife Emily, said the drought has had a “knock-on impact on yield”.

“The quality of the pumpkin is good – the skin finish is good, they're a really good orange. But ... you just haven't got the volume there,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

Mr French’s warning comes after the Environment Agency (EA) on Tuesday declared a drought for all of South West England, which is experiencing its driest conditions in nearly 90 years.

Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly were declared to be in drought earlier in August.

Farmers have warned that the adverse weather conditions will pile further pressure on crops and harvests. Mr French said he expects “some sort of shortage” of pumpkins on supermarket shelves in October.

He said his own business had already sold out of pumpkins it sells to event planners.

“That's unusual, and that's partly down to reduced yield but also increased inequities because of what the yield is like elsewhere in the country,” he added.

(Getty/iStock)

A recent EA report found this year has seen the driest July across all of England since 1935, with monthly rainfall totals for the majority of river catchments classed as “exceptionally low” for the time of year.

There have now been five consecutive months of below-average rainfall across all geographic regions in England and above-average temperatures.

With Wessex now officially in drought, 11 of the 14 Environment Agency areas in England are now in drought status.