Cheese and onion crisps under threat due to heatwave

(Image credit: Getty Images/EyeEm)

And it’s all thanks to the summer heatwave.

Crisp fans often have their favourites.

Some opt for sweet flavours like prawn cocktail, Worcester sauce and bbq, while others prefer simple ready salted or plain, or perhaps something quirky such as scampi, paprika or pickled onion.

And then there are those who only deal with classics – salt and vinegar, roast chicken, cheese and onion.

Well unfortunately for the latter we have some bad news.

Cheese and onion crisps could be on the verge of extinction!

Okay, so maybe not quite extinction, but you could say they’re ‘under threat’.

Due to the UK’s intense summer heatwave, farmers are warning that the country’s onion and potato crops are being affected.

While they have already seen a shortage in the potato harvest, because of the hot weather they are now preparing for a poor onion yield as well (carrots, peas and lettuces are also at risk, but we’re not so bothered about them).

Tim Elcombe of British Onions, a site run by the British Onion Producers’ Association, explained that onions endured a cold and wet planting season before weeks of blistering heat.

‘We badly need rain but the ground is so hard, a deluge will run off,’ he says.

He warns that the country’s onion fields will yield up to 25 per cent fewer vegetables this season than they usually do, due to the heat burning the onion bulbs.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the amount of cheese coming into the UK could be affected by the Brexit outcome.

A no-deal Brexit could lead to a cheese shortage for the Brits.

So all in all, it is not a good time for the cheese and onion crisp.

What will we do without them?! A lunchtime Sainsbury’s meal deal just isn’t the same without that blue packet of Walkers.

You might want to start stockpiling.

Aleesha Badkar
Lifestyle Writer

Aleesha Badkar is a lifestyle writer who specialises in health, beauty - and the royals. After completing her MA in Magazine Journalism at the City, the University of London in 2017, she interned at Women’s Health, Stylist, and Harper’s Bazaar, creating features and news pieces on health, beauty, and fitness, wellbeing, and food. She loves to practice what she preaches in her everyday life with copious amounts of herbal tea, Pilates, and hyaluronic acid.