Apple growers in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, have reported that the recent heatwave has cooked many of their apples on trees and will cause losses of up to 15 per cent of their crop.
The prolonged period of intense heat in the orchards began on July 10 and growers say there was a lack of wind during the next few day, which maintained the internal temperature of the fruit at unhelpfully high levels.
Bramley producer Graham Hewitt labeled the freakish 32°C a "dead heat. The apple which was most exposed just literally cooked, it was just coddled on the tree," he said.
Fruit on the south west canopy of each tree which took the brunt of the melting sun’s rays and the damage penetrated right to the core of the apple.
"This is a totally new phenomenon in Armagh, this was a totally freak weekend of weather, but you always have it in the back of your mind is global warming going to pose more of a problem when it comes to growing a crop?" said Hewitt.
The Fruit Growers' Association though has been quick to stress that there will be no shortage of Bramley. Hewitt said that with 10 to 12 weeks of growing left, nature will compensate by making the remaining apples larger.
Temperatures have cooled in recent days and Armagh’s orchard owners are no strangers to bad weather - they normally contend with frost, winds and hail, however.
No comments yet