UK’s ‘courgette crisis’ could last two months more after bad weather hits Spain

BRITISH supermarket shelves could remain empty of courgettes after harvesting of the seasonal vegetable was washed out by extreme weather in Spain.

In Murcia, the mid-Januray average temperatures should be 16°c during the day and 8°c at night but temperatures have recently  fallen to -2°c at night and 2°c on some days.

Dr Chris Bishop and a group of students from Writtle University College, recently returned from a trip to Spain.

“In Murcia, we were struck by the number of fields that were in a terrible state,” he said.

“You would have had to be very unaware not to notice it. There were fields with large patches where the crop had been washed out.”

Salad crops have also been washed away.

John McCann, managing director of bagged salad processor Willowbrook Foods, has also visited Murcia and said he had seen fields turned into lakes.
 
“Last week we had a shortage level of up to 70%, which is completely unheard of in our business.”