With Halloween fast approaching, the UK’s pumpkin growers have mounted a race against time to harvest their crops before the onset of frost in October. However, the rush to harvest the iconic squash has been delayed by bad weather, heaping misery on farmers who have suffered under challenging conditions all season.

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In addition to the heavy rains hampering harvest, farmers in the East of England expect their crop to be down by 20 percent or more, following bad weather this summer. Whilst yields have taken a hit, there are also fears that around half of all pumpkins will appear green and unripe.  

Producers have warned that there could be a shortage of the vegetable this autumn, suggesting pumpkins on offer this year are likely to cost more and look less appealing than usual. The lack of orange pigmentation is due to pumpkins failing to develop properly during the cold, wet summer.

Pumpkins are best suited to warm, dry conditions. However, during what has been perhaps the wettest year in living memory, warm dry days have been few and far between.

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