Why this year’s strawberries are set to be sweeter

This year’s strawberries are “markedly” sweeter than usual, a grower has said, after the 2025 season got off to a “stonking start”.

A “glorious spring” this year has contributed to a “really good crop” of strawberries, according to Marion Regan, the managing director of Hugh Lowe Farms – which supplies strawberries to the Wimbledon tennis tournament, set to start on 30 June.

Ms Regan, who has grown strawberries for more than half a century, told the BBC that, while this year’s strawberries have been a “good size” so far, the “most marked thing” is how sweet they have been.

Strawberries are known to be sweeter when the days are bright and the nights are cool, which enables the plants to rest overnight and use the more plentiful energy gained during the day to produce more natural sugars.

With a total of 228.9 sunshine hours, nearly 50 per cent higher than average in previous years, this April was the UK’s sunniest since records began in 1910, according to the Met Office.

It is also the driest spring in 61 years, and the Environment Agency is warning that there is a “medium” risk of a drought this summer unless significant rainfall arrives.

Noting that while “all farmers could do with the rain”, Ms Regan said she has irrigation systems in place to ensure her crops receive a steady supply of water throughout the strawberry growing season, which lasts until November.

The spate of warm, sunny weather has continued for most this weekend, with the Met Office forecasting highs of 23C in some areas – making parts of the country hotter than Ibiza.

Temperatures are set to remain mild this week, with a mixture of sunshine and showers expected before a weather system moving in from the Atlantic brings more unsettled conditions heading into the bank holiday weekend, according to the Met Office.

Ms Regan’s remarks echoed those from fellow strawberry growers earlier in the season.

Pauline Goodall, a farmer from Limington told the BBC earlier this month that her fruits were “just ripening at a phenomenal rate” thanks to the warmer weather, while the Summer Berry Company, near Chichester, said its plants were producing “lush-sweet tasting fruit”.