Britain importing NZ veges due to bad summer

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A miserable British summer means the country is turning to New Zealand for help in bolstering its onion supplies.

A wet summer has meant vegetables like peas, potatoes and onions, which would normally be grown in British soil, are having to be imported from various countries around the world.

And New Zealand has come to the rescue in the form of large cooking onions.

The onions are being shipped more than 18,500km across the world to keep up with buyer needs in Britain, the Daily Mail reported.

Argentina has also been shipping over their onions.

Farmers have said they are struggling to grow their crops because of the wet weather and a lack of sunshine.

Waterlogged soil has also prevented growers from planting and harvesting crops.

Broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts and cabbage are being imported from countries such as Guatemala, South Africa, Israel and Portugal.

Israel was supplying potatoes and Kenya was supplying runner beans.

British Growers Association chief executive James Hallett told the Daily Mail that the UK onion season had been a bit slow to come this year because the plants had not been getting enough sunshine.