Cold snap is good news for fruit crops

Published on 04/02/2012 03:22

The UK may be gripped by bitterly cold conditions, but the freezing weather has a silver lining for fruit growers, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has claimed.

The RHS feared the mild winter up until now could lead to smaller fruit crops this autumn as trees would miss out on the “chilling” conditions they needed to encourage flowering.

Without a cold period, crops are reduced – potentially pushing up prices. But Guy Barter, RHS chief horticultural adviser, said: “Looking at the long-range forecast, it looks like we are now going to have the right conditions to help fruit-tree buds develop.

“We had been worried that the mild winter so far might cause problems to fruit development.

“Evidence from previous years shows that without this cold effect crops may be reduced.”