It is one of the staples of a traditional Sunday roast.
But experts now warn that Brits might have to go without cauliflower cheese this spring.
Due to an unusually warm autumn and winter, brassicas like cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage have come up too early.
That means British growers might struggle to produce enough crops to meet the country’s demand for veg by spring.
And experts say that climate change means these conditions are only likely to become worse.
What’s more, a series of severe weather events in Europe mean that imports might not be able to make up the difference.
Flooding in key growing regions like Valencia, Spain has left farmers unable to plant their crops soon enough.
That means Britain could face an even longer ‘hungry gap’ – the period between April and early June when very few crops are ready to harvest.
Experts have warned that the great British Sunday roast could be under threat due to climate change (stock image)
While the UK is currently facing a spell of cold weather, on average this winter and the previous autumn have been among the warmest on record.
According to the Met Office, 2024 was the fourth hottest year on record for the UK.
The average temperatures last year hit a balmy 9.78°C (49.6°F), which is 0.64°C (1.15°F) above the 1991-2020 average.
This means 2024 follows 2022, 2023, and 2014 as the fourth warmest year for the UK.
Conditions were especially warm in October when average temperatures rose to 10.4°C (50.7°F), which is 0.7°C (1.26°F) above the seasonal average.
Mike Kendon, Met Office senior scientist, says: ‘The UK receives weather influences from all points of the compass, and we are all familiar with just how variable our weather can often be from one day to the next.
‘However, the long-term pattern in the observations is undeniable: the global climate is warming and there is clear evidence of this in the UK’s own temperature series.’
This does not mean that the UK will stop having spells of cold weather but, as the climate gets warmer on average, those spells will be less frequent.
A warm autumn and winter meant that brassicas like cauliflower, cabbage, and broccoli came up much earlier than normal. That means farmers might not have time to produce a crop for spring. Pictured: Cauliflower being picked in Holbeach, Lincolshire
The Met Office has revealed that 2024 was provisionally the fourth hottest year on record for the UK. These temperatures have led to disruptive growth in UK crops
These unusually warm conditions mean that plants that normally start their growth in spring are now ready to harvest.
While crops coming up early might sound good, this will only make it harder to spread the UK’s agricultural produce throughout the year.
Guy Barter, the chief horticulturist at the Royal Horticultural Society, shared in a post on X that he was ‘perplexed’ to find his April crop of cauliflowers ready to pick in January.
Mr Barter told MailOnline: ‘Mild conditions appear to have advanced maturity which may interrupt supply schedules.’
Between April and June, the UK goes through a period known as the ‘hungry gap’ while the winter crops have ended and before the spring crops are ready.
At this time, winter crops like sprouts, kale, and cauliflower start to ‘bolt’, meaning they stop producing leaves and start producing flowers and seeds.
The earlier the winter crops start to produce leaves, the earlier they bolt – meaning that the UK faces a longer hungry gap.
Mr Barter says: ‘If crops mature earlier there is no more time before the summer crops are ready to gather in June.
Last year included the warmest May on record, the second warmest February, and the fifth warmest December. Conditions were also exceptionally wet, especially in the South West, England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland
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‘Farmers go to great lengths to ensure consistent supplies and are very skilled at this, but these can be upset by weather, so shortages cannot be ruled out.’
Thanks to imports and greenhouses people in the UK no longer really go hungry during this time, but it could mean increased prices or shortages for some veg.
‘Periods of low supplies can mean good prices so cauliflower crops are often targeted for these periods in favourable regions such as Worcestershire and Kent for the April to June period,’ says Mr Barter.
However, several factors have also made potential shortages worse this year.
While the mild wet weather helped brassicas become ready sooner than normal, these conditions are also favourable for pests like slugs.
A growing season report from seed producer Syngenta says: ‘The 2024 season has been humid and cool, creating favourable conditions for pests and disease.’
Likewise, Peter Adams, a horticulturist at RHS Rosemoor in north Devon, says that a combination of ‘winter wet and local pigeon and slug populations’ have destroyed all his cauliflower.
In normal periods of shortage, the resulting high prices would encourage imports from the EU.
Spain, which would normally step in to fill gaps in the UK market, has been hit by severe deluges and extreme weather events. This means Spanish farmers are behind on their growing schedules
However, extreme weather events mean that European farmers are well behind in their growing schedules.
Mr Barter says that heavy winter rain in Spain is affecting crops of weather-sensitive calabrese broccoli which usually fills gaps in the UK market.
In October last year, parts of Valencia, Spain were hit by a year’s worth of rain in as little as eight hours.
The resulting flash floods swamped huge parts of Valencia, Almería, and Andalusia which grow large amounts of the country’s fresh produce.
In a typical year, Spain provides 25 per cent of the UK’s fruit imports and eight per cent of vegetable imports.
This means that disruption to the Spanish growing season will have a knock-on effect on UK markets.
Hannah Croft, an agronomist at the organic vegetable box company Riverford, told The Guardian that there would be ‘tight periods for broccoli supply later this spring’.
Ms Croft says: ‘UK cauliflowers have faced weather challenges including significant rainfall in autumn, which caused some losses in early crops, while mild temperatures brought winter cauliflowers ahead of schedule.
In October, massive floods hit the Spanish regions of Valencia (pictured), Almería, and Andalusia which grow large amounts of the country’s fresh produce. This could lead to shortages or increased prices for UK shoppers
‘Our Spanish suppliers, who grow much of our winter broccoli, have faced setbacks due to heavy autumn rain, which caused quality issues and delayed planting for spring crops.
‘This has pushed harvest schedules forward, meaning there’s a possibility of a gap in late spring.’
In future years, such disruptions are likely to continue or worsen if farmers do not adapt to the impacts of climate change.
As the climate warms, scientists expect there to be greater periods of extremely dry or extremely wet weather.
These patterns of repeated drought and flood cause serious problems for farmers who rely on consistent and predictable rains to grow their crops.
Likewise, the disruption to crops’ natural flowering cycles is likely to continue as winter and autumn become warmer.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2024 was the hottest year on record with an average temperature of 15.1°C (59.2°F).
If this trend continues, Mr Barter says he expects weather-related crop disruption to continue with ‘unusually severe or prolonged wet or dry periods consistent with what we expect from climate change.’
