Britain has been enjoying such unseasonably mild weather of late - until the recent cold snap, at least - that farmers are looking at a bumper crop of Brussels sprouts this Christmas, with farmers reporting a 20% bigger harvest than usual.

That's right - not only has this surprisingly warm autumn brought us potential droughts next summer, now it's given the legions of Brussels sprouts-haters another reason to be grumpy this festive season.

As well as ripening earlier than usual, the miniature-cabbagey-things that most people love to hate will weigh 25g each instead of the regular 20g, which means they're going to take even longer to overboil come December 25th.

“It has been a really good year for sprouts and the yields are much higher than they have been for the past six years,” John Lankfer, a farmer Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, told The Daily Telegraph.

Still, there is one piece of good news inamongst all this - the sprouts this year are promised to be sweeter and tastier than usual, all because of the weather.

In other words, all you sprout-lovers - we know you're out there - rejoice! There are loads of your favourite brassica to had had this year, and they'll be extra-delicious! Huzzah!

Flickr photo by G23Armstrong