A CHRISTMAS tree farmer has warned that festivities in future years may not be so bright as erratic weather is impacting harvests - which follows hardships already faced by grain, sunflower and pumpkin farmers this year.

Increasingly unpredictable weather conditions have led to issues for farmers, as 2022 saw Britain face the warmest summer on record - tied with 2018 - despite one of the wettest winters in 2023.

Due to the long-term growth of Nordman Fir and Norway Spruces - which are common Christmas trees - farmers plant their crop years in advance, meaning their stock hasn’t yet been affected.

However, recently-planted saplings are already facing issues.

Owner of Billingley Christmas Tree Farm, Andrew Stenton, told the Chronicle: “With such a wet winter there was a real negative effect on planting.

“The baby trees we planted couldn’t get any oxygen out of the soil so it killed a lot of them country-wide.

“So there’s going to be a bit of a blip - there were a lot of replacement transplants needed in the spring and subsequently that’s going to mean a year missing in the cycle of the Christmas trees.

“That’s still six to eight years off but we’re heading into a shortage now.

“In 2016 there was a shortage of transplants in Europe - so there was a lull in the nursery and very low supply across the whole of Europe.”