Tomato stock at Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi, Lidl and Waitrose

A shortage of tomatoes affecting UK supermarkets is widening to other fruit and vegetables and is likely to last weeks, retailers have warned.

A combination of bad weather and transport problems in Africa and Europe has seen UK supermarket shelves left bare of tomatoes, as well as dwindling stocks of some other fresh produce.

We visited five city supermarkets to see how they are coping with the reported national shortage of produce.

Waitrose

Waitrose, London Road, shelves. (Image: Newsquest)

Waitrose was definitely short on stock when we visited earlier today. The London Road supermarket has an entire row dedicated to a variety of tomatoes, but many green crates could be seen empty.

There were dwindling levels of stock, including loose salad tomatoes.

Tesco -Warndon

Tesco, Warndon, shelves. (Image: Newsquest)

Tesco seemed to be coping with the stock shortages well, as the shelves were still full with a variety of options.

There were some green crates empty but there were still plenty for shoppers to buy.

Aldi - Pheasant Street

Aldi, Pheasant Street, shelves. (Image: Newsquest)

Much like Tesco, Aldi still had stock on the shelves, but it perhaps was not as full as normal.

There were still a variety of options for shoppers to choose from.

Sainsbury's - Windemere Drive

Sainsbury's, Windermere Drive, shelves. (Image: Newsquest)

The shelves were not very bare in Sainsbury's, with a variety of options to choose from.

A couple of spaces remained empty but there is no fear if this is your local supermarket for now.

Lidl - Blackpole Road

Lidl was the only supermarket where we could not find any tomatoes at all on the shelves.

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Nationally, Asda has introduced a customer limit of three on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries, and Morrisons said it would be introducing limits of two items per customer across tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers from Wednesday.

Other supermarkets are understood to be considering similar temporary measures.

It is understood that retailers believe the problems stem from poor yields on the continent and north Africa, and that supplies will improve in the coming days or weeks.

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Producers have also reported having to cut back on their use of greenhouses due to higher electricity prices.

However, UK producers are beginning to move into their growing season, which is expected to ease the longer-term situation as retailers also look to alternatives to produce from Spain and northern Africa.