'Monster sprouts': Perfect weather means Christmas dinners to be dwarfed by mutant batch of vegetable

Love them or hate them, Brussels sprouts the size of golf balls are arriving on supermarket shelves after perfect weather conditions led to a mutant crop. The vegetable has benefited from warm weather in the UK this year and is set to cause even more arguments over Christmas dinner, but this time over their size.

A combination of heavy rainfall and a sunny summer meant the average size of some sprouts has swelled to 35g – more than twice the average – and 4cm wide – or the size of a golf ball. Sprout farmer John Clappison, from Beverley in Yorkshire, told Sky News: "We've had lots of lovely sun this summer, plenty of rain and then we've had a nice mild autumn and the crop has grown really, really well."

"The modern varieties have been bred to be a sweeter, more palatable taste for the younger generation," he said. @Various people say there is a genetic follow through in people – some people either can't stand them or love them."