Shoppers have been urged to "buy local" amid a shortage of certain fruit and vegetables due to poor weather conditions in Europe.

Impacted items include broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, aubergines and courgettes.

Justin Leonard, managing director of Jackie Leonard and Sons, a wholesale fruit and veg supplier in Dublin, told RTÉ that Spain has experienced "16 consecutive nights of below freezing temperatures over the last three weeks".

Mr Leonard said when temperatures go below zero plants stop producing and close in on themselves as a protective measure.

"As a result there is just no product available to be harvested. This is unfortunately a problem that is going to continue to go on for another two to three weeks, if not longer, because we are also coming towards the end of the Spanish season," he said.

In Association with

"The Spanish season would generally end around the end of March. And the Dutch season would start in early April coming into May. But unfortunately this year due to the energy crisis the Dutch growers are not heating their glass houses earlier than they would in order to get their product to market quicker. It is just simply not viable to do so. We are coming to the end of the Spanish season but the Dutch season isn't going to start on time and, if anything, will start a little later."

Mr Leonard said his firm has seen a nearly 300% increase in the cost of items such as peppers. Tesco Ireland said that "due to bad weather in seasonal supply from Morocco and Spain, the growing and harvesting schedules of some produce have been impacted".

Lidl said it is also experiencing some availability issues with a small number of fruit and vegetable items and is working to secure sufficient quantities and hopes to full availability in the coming days.

SuperValu also said it is engaging with its suppliers after a shortfall has emerged in the European grocery market with regard to the supply of strawberries, raspberries, peppers and tomatoes. In a statement, SuperValu said its suppliers have said they are doing everything they can to secure as much product as possible for Irish customers.

In the UK, Asda, the third largest grocer, said it had introduced a temporary three-pack limit on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower, and also raspberries.

"Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa," an Asda spokesman said.

Morrisons said it would impose a cap of two items per customer across tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and peppers from today.