Heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures earlier this week caused disruption to fresh produce production and transport in the UK.

Problems discharging vessels in the heavy snow at the port of Felixstowe lead to delays in berthing and therefore had a knock on effect on produce arriving at and leaving the port.

Heavy snowfall also meant that some lorries were not able to leave their yards to make the journey to container ports such as Felixstowe and Tilbury. Or if they could make the journey to port, some then had difficulty in reaching their final destination to deliver the produce because of the weather conditions and treacherous roads.

Michael Orpin, fresh produce manager at Agility Logistics with offices in Bromley and in Sheerness said: “The east of England was worst affected on Monday and we have seen an accumulation of problems with people struggling to get out the area.”

Import-export company Davis (Louth) Ltd described the situation in the south-east of England as “a mess”. Managing director Peter Davis said: “The south-east is far worse than the Midlands and there have been problems getting deliveries to wholesale markets and to the supermarkets. Heavy snow means that no vegetables can be cut in Lincolnshire either and it began snowing in Brittany on Monday too so that will push the prices up for cauliflower and cabbage. A lot of lines will be affected. It is a very difficult week.”

The UK’s wholesale markets continued to operate, but there were some noticeable effects to trade of some of coldest conditions in two decades. Chris Hutchinson, chairman of Spitalfields Market Tenants’ Association said: “We have been lucky and the supply side has been good. But there have been some serious problems with the customer base which has gone very quiet.”

The closures of thousands of schools across England and large parts of Wales also meant orders made up to supply school kitchens and the school fruit and vegetable scheme were not needed.

At the wholesale market in Cardiff access was good, but a few customers from some of the more remote valley communities were missed. And in Bristol, the market worked hard to keep roadways clear and there was some shortage of supplies into the market itself.

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