Recent heatwave 'good and bad' for Jersey Royals

Wednesday, 3 June 2026 08:30

By Harry Booth

The Jersey Royal Company says the recent heatwave has been 'good and bad' for the island's famous potatoes.

After five straight days of temperatures exceeding 30°C, conditions have cooled in recent days.

Jersey has had its warmest May and spring on record, with total rainfall below the 30-year average.

Tim Ward, Business Unit Director for Jersey Royal Company, said:

"It's been a challenge for the crops because it's been so dry for so long, and then to get such extreme temperatures just puts stress onto the crops really, so growers were nervous about yields going forward and later crop in the ground and the affect that would have.

"The positive side of the warm, sunny weather is that it does help sales.

"We've seen demand increase in the UK, which is great. It can go up by 25%, 30% if you get the sun coming out and everybody goes barbecuing so that's really good for us, but we didn't want it to be too sustained, that's for sure.

After the record heatwave and long dry spell, the island had some heavy downpours, with more than 20mm of rain recorded on Monday night (1 June).

Tim added:

"They refer to it as pennies from heaven when we get natural rain like that, and it's well-received.

"The crops were desperately needing it and it will help from a harvesting perspective, it will make it a little bit easier for the guys that've been working really hard out there in some very difficult conditions."