Furious farmers have warned that Britain's potato crop is in serious danger as scorching heatwaves threaten to shrink the nation's favourite Friday night chippy tea into stubby little offcuts. Jacket potatoes could be off the menu, and fry fans will have to settle for shorter chips.
Farmers report stunted growth
With high temperatures stunting spud growth across the country, East Anglian grower Jim Wayman, of 3Ms, which supplies major supermarkets like M&S and Aldi, revealed the grim reality on the ground. He told The Telegraph: "We've been chucking water on them, but in this heat they're not growing. It's like watering a corpse."
Spuds stop growing once temperatures pass 30C, a mark average weather readings smashed past on 16 separate days up to the end of July.
Retailers and market impact
Calling out major retailers for refusing to accept smaller potatoes, Mr Wayman added: "We're being accused of scaremongering, and the big retailers are saying their customers expect a certain standard of size but we're saying we can't do it."
Potato market analyst Cedric Porter warned that August is usually prime time for spuds to bulk up, but the heat has completely stopped them in their tracks. His advice to hungry Brits is to "Eat your spuds while you can."
European heatwave rules out imports
Brits hoping to import massive spuds from abroad can think again. Heatwaves have also battered mainland Europe, ruling out any backup plan of shipping them in from Belgium.
Scott Walker, chief executive of GB Potatoes, said: "It's not just a part of the country, it's not just even the UK, this same thing is happening on the continent. So the entire market will have smaller potatoes."
Food security concerns
Analysing the fallout, Mr Porter said: "This is fairly serious. I think it will be a bit of a wake-up call." The drought has also sparked wider fears over the UK's basic food security.
Tom Bradshaw, chief executive of the National Farmers Union, said: "If this summer teaches us anything, it is that we must prioritise food production. This means urgent action to bolster our water security and ensuring our food security is treated as a vital part of our nation's critical infrastructure."
Farmers at breaking point
Meanwhile, Mr Wayman slammed Labour's family farm tax for making life harder for struggling growers, saying: "The government seems to think profit is a dirty word and all farmers are rich." He warned that many fed-up spud producers might simply give up on planting the crop altogether next year.
He said: "It's pretty dispiriting for guys who work non-stop, day in day out, and they won't see a return on their labours. People are saying, 'Why do I bloody bother?'"
According to the University of Dundee, Brits scoff two million tonnes of spuds every year. But unless something changes, our beloved chips are going to look very different.
