Shoppers are facing a low supply of vegetables in Milton Keynes supermarkets due to ' bad weather in Europe and Africa'.
Milton Keynes shoppers have been taking to social media to share images of empty shelves in local supermarkets.
Tesco's, Sainsbury's and Morrisons are among the supermarkets with a 'shortage' of fruit vegetables, according to photos shared online.
One Milton Keynes shopper took to Twitter on Friday night to share images of his local Tesco supermarket saying: "Just drop into Tesco to pick up few bits, no tomatoes, no lettuce,no cucumber amongst whole lot more, why? Friday afternoon?"
The tweet quickly went viral with shoppers replying that they had noticed similar issues in their local stores.
Wahoo home time 😀, but,just drop into @Tesco pick up few bits, no tomatoes, no lettuce,no cucumber amongst whole lot more 🤔 , why ? Friday afternoon? @mkfm @BBCNews @SkyNews @itvnews 😮😮😮 is this Brexit or just no veg is this country? pic.twitter.com/VE6nrsgGLi
— Mike P B 🇺🇦🇬🇧 (@MikeyPB) February 17, 2023
One shopper said they experienced the same issues when trying to do an online shop last Thursday in Milton Keynes, with most vegetables unavailable to purchase. But, according to responses on Twitter, it seems Milton Keynes is not the only place affected and shoppers are facing empty shelves nationally.
This was my local Tesco's in London on Saturday afternoon. It's not just tomatoes they're having problems getting, is it? pic.twitter.com/8ysPh5TeYO
— Ms Robot (Governed by idiots) (@gard_trudi) February 19, 2023
Tesco Leasowe. Wirral. pic.twitter.com/ilM4o2AnFr
— Wilms tale - 🇪🇺🇩🇪🇬🇧 - 🇺🇦 (@b_wilm) February 18, 2023
Shoppers have been blaming Brexit, supply chain issues, weather and rising energy costs - but what is the reason behind the shortages?
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents UK supermarkets, said: "Difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa have disrupted harvest for some fruit and vegetables including tomatoes.
"However, supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers are able to access a wide range of fresh produce."
The UK relies on countries such as Morocco and Spain for produce during the winter months but with Morocco struggling facing cold temperatures and Spain struggling with bad weather, there has been a shortage of crops.
As well as this, Sky News says that suppliers are being hit by ferry cancellations, affecting transport.
A spokesperson for Morrisons has said: “Availability across our tomato range has been significantly impacted by adverse weather conditions across Spain and Morocco. The current shortage is likely to improve within a couple of weeks.”
MKFM has contacted Tesco for a response.
