UK families issued 'abysmal' pumpkins warning ahead of Halloween

People have been warned there may be a shortage of pumpkins this year due to weather conditions.

National Trust's gardeners have warned that 'abysmal' harvests this season are well down on usual stocks, with Halloween just weeks away. The heritage charity said September’s cold and wet weather meant many plants at its gardens stopped growing and needed harvesting early, with its gardeners reporting reduced squash and pumpkin crops

Dunham Massey, near Manchester, was one of the worst hit. It would usually produce 30 to 40 pumpkins for an autumn display, but this year there are none – all of the plants were eaten by slugs when young.

Also among the worst affected was Kingston Lacy in Dorset, where pumpkins and squashes had to be harvested a month earlier than usual, marking the earliest ever harvest for the property. Only half of the country house and estate’s normal crop was saved, the National Trust added.

Andrew Hunt, head gardener at Kingston Lacy, said: “Pumpkins need a long, hot growing season to do well. Unfortunately, we had a cold and prolonged spring, which meant that germination took place later than normal and then the cooler and wetter conditions over the summer really haven’t helped.”

Arlington Court in Devon also reported an “abysmal” season for squashes and pumpkins, with poor weather and slugs causing the loss of more than 150 plants. Nostell, a Georgian house in West Yorkshire, typically produces around 80 pumpkins and squash, but has 25 this autumn.

Paul Dibb, garden and outdoors manager at Nostell, said: “The wet spring and early summer has resulted in an army of slugs attacking the young plants we grew and planted out. It’s been a struggle to get any established in time to produce fruit.”

Rebecca Bevan,