Shops and supermarkets are reportedly running short of peppers, with one retailer already having introduced limits on what customers can buy.

A cold snap in Europe is said to be behind the current shortages – particularly when it comes to the numbers of peppers growers have been able to gather.

Earlier this year supermarkets across the UK were forced to ration a number of fresh salad and vegetable items when weather and transport problems on the continent and in north Africa caused such disruption to supply chains that supermarket shelves sat empty.

This week, it is Morrisons which has become the first retailer to reintroduce some of those restrictions – capping shoppers to two peppers per customer until the situation improves.

Any shortages, it is hoped, will be short lived particularly as the UK growing season is about to start.

While the UK is heavily reliant on Europe during the winter months for supplies of some fresh food items, when the weather warms up in spring, Britain’s growers can help bolster supplies, which will in turn quickly improve stock levels of some salad items retailers may be struggling to import from Europe.

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said he expects UK growers to help matters in the weeks ahead.

He added: “A few stores have implemented temporary limits on how much customers can buy to ensure availability for everyone. However, availability should improve for those impacted in the coming weeks as we enter UK growing season.”

Once again shoppers have taken to social media to complain of a lack of food in some stores – sharing images of empty shelves.

While the threat of avian flu has subsided and hens have been returned to outside areas, egg shortages also persist in a number of shops and supermarkets.

With many suppliers having scaled back production in the face of rising production costs and high energy bills - combined with the impact of bird flu - The British Free Range Egg Producers Association warned this week that it could be the autumn before the situation improves and full supply chains are back up and running.