Supplies of some vegetables in the UK and Ireland could run low again next month.

The forecasted shortage is due to extreme weather disrupting planting in the two main growing regions in southern Europe in December and January.

Supplies of lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower in the UK and Ireland have been low for the past few weeks. This has been down to poor growth and harvest of crops due to prolonged rain followed by cold temperatures in south east Spain and heavy frost in southern Italy.

Willowbrook Foods processes salads for the retail and food service sectors in the UK and Ireland and has growers in both regions. “All the crops were virtually destroyed,” managing director John McCann said, after visiting growers in the Murcia region of Spain last month.

50% of orders

In January, the Co Down- based salad processor was only able to supply around 50% of orders. “The situation has improved a bit. We are able to supply around 70% to 80% of orders now,” McCann said.

“The crops that would have to be harvested in mid-March have to be planted in December or early January. During this time crops were destroyed or farmers couldn’t plant, so there is a potential gap again for a period next month,” he said.

The hope is that some lettuce damaged by flooding may start to grow again, allowing a better-than-expected harvest in March. “No one really knows if this will happen, as farmers have never had floods to this extent before,” McCann said.

Lettuce is mostly imported into the UK and Ireland from southern Europe from October to May.

During the summer months, most lettuce is sourced from local growers in the UK and Ireland, McCann said.