Blueberry yields in Ukraine during the 2026 season were low across nearly the entire country, with some farms reporting virtually no harvest of mid-season varieties, according to the president of the Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association (UPOA).
The main cause of the problems was spring frosts, which had the most severe impact on mid-season and late-season blueberry varieties.
“This year’s yield is really poor. And that’s the case almost throughout Ukraine,” said Bashtannik. According to him, in some areas, the yield of mid-season varieties was “absolutely zero.”
At the same time, the situation in the consumer market looks quite different: despite the yield problems, blueberries have become significantly cheaper at the height of the season. According to the UPOA chairman’s estimate, the farmgate price of the berries is about 100 UAH/kg, while the retail price is approximately 200 UAH/kg.
Bashtannik notes that blueberries are gradually ceasing to be a niche, expensive berry and are becoming a mass-market product for the Ukrainian market. The growth in domestic consumption is accompanied by an expansion of supply, although the most efficient producers continue to focus, in particular, on exports.
“Blueberries have become a ‘people’s’ berry because they are now abundant and consumers like them,” noted the president of the UPOA.
A labor shortage remains an additional constraint for the industry, especially during harvest time. According to Bashtannik, the labor shortage affects virtually all producers and has the potential to hinder the further expansion of the berry business.
Growing blueberries in containers and tunnels—which helps partially mitigate the impact of adverse weather—has not yet become widespread in Ukraine. The head of the UPOA considers this technology to be more of a niche practice due to the high cost of substrates, infrastructure, and additional production requirements.
Harvest problems are arising against the backdrop of a challenging situation with Ukrainian blueberry exports. According to data published on August 12 by the “Berry Farming of Ukraine” association, blueberry exports fell by nearly two-thirds in the 2025/26 marketing year—to 7,600 metric tons, compared to 24,400 metric tons in the previous season. Export revenue fell by 40%—to 44.5 million euros—despite an increase in the average export price to 5.85 euros per kg.
Poland, Austria, and the Czech Republic remained the main foreign markets for Ukrainian blueberries.
Thus, the 2026 season has been mixed for Ukrainian blueberry producers: domestic demand is growing, and the berries are becoming more affordable for consumers; however, spring frosts sharply reduced yields for some varieties, the industry is facing a labor shortage, and export volumes remain significantly lower than in the previous season.
The Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association brings together producers, processors, and exporters of fruit and vegetable products and is engaged in developing the domestic market and promoting Ukrainian products in foreign markets.
On Saturday, April 25, no precipitation is expected in Ukraine; only in the northern regions will there be light rain in some areas during the day, according to the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center.
The wind will be southwesterly, 7–12 m/s, with gusts of 15–20 m/s in some parts of the western regions during the day.
Nighttime temperatures will range from 1 to 7°C. Across Ukraine—except for the western regions, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, and Odesa regions—ground frosts of 0–3°C are expected, while in the east of the country and in Sumy region, air frosts of 0–3°C are expected; daytime temperatures will range from 11 to 16°C.
In Kyiv on Saturday night, no precipitation; during the day, light rain in some places. Southwesterly wind, 7-12 m/s. Nighttime temperature 3-5°F, daytime 13-15°F.
According to data from the Boris Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory in Kyiv, on April 25, the highest daytime temperature was 27.5°F in 1943, and the lowest nighttime temperature was 1.5°F below freezing in 1988.
On Sunday, April 26, rain is expected at night in most western regions of Ukraine and during the day.
The wind will be southwesterly, shifting to northwesterly, 7–12 m/s; at night in the western regions and during the day across Ukraine, gusts will reach 15–20 m/s.
Temperatures at night will be 4–9°F; during the day, 14–19°F, and 6–11°F in the western, northern, and Vinnytsia regions.
In Kyiv on Sunday, no precipitation at night, rain during the day. Winds will be southwesterly, shifting to northwesterly, 7–12 m/s, with gusts of 15–20 m/s during the day. Temperatures will be 7–9°F at night and during the day.
On Monday, February 16, at night in the western regions, moderate snow, in Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions, moderate, in some places heavy snow; in most northern regions, heavy snow, blizzard; wet snow and rain in the rest of the country, with heavy precipitation mainly in the form of rain in the Sumy, Cherkasy, Poltava, and Kharkiv regions; light snow during the day, mainly rain in the east of the country, moderate precipitation in the northeast (no significant precipitation in the western, southern, and Vinnytsia regions).
According to the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center, in the western, northern, and most central regions, there will be icy patches on the roads in some places.
The wind will be mainly northwesterly, 7-12 m/s, with gusts of 15-20 m/s in Ukraine, except in the west.
The temperature at night and during the day in the western, Zhytomyr, and Vinnytsia regions will be 7-12° below zero; in the Carpathian region and the north of the country, 4-9° below zero; in most central and Sumy regions, from 3° above zero to 2° below zero; in the east and southeast, 3-8° above zero.
In Kyiv, there will be heavy snow on Monday night and light snow in some places during the day. There will be ice on the roads in some places. The wind will be mainly northwesterly, 7-12 m/s, with gusts of 15-18 m/s, and blizzards at night and in the morning. The temperature at night and during the day will be 7-9° below zero.
According to data from the Boris Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory, the highest daytime temperature in Kyiv on February 16 was 11.8°C in 1957, and the lowest nighttime temperature was -23.2°C in 1911.
On Tuesday, February 17, there will be no significant precipitation, with only light rain in Crimea during the day.
The wind will be northeast, 5-10 m/s.
In the western, northern, and most central regions, there will be icy patches on the roads in some places.
Temperature at night 8-13°, in the northern part 14-19°, during the day 4-9° below zero, in most central regions at night 3-8°, during the day 0-5° below zero, in Transcarpathia, the south and southeast of the country at night 1-6° below zero, and 0-3°C during the day.
In Kyiv on Tuesday, there will be no significant precipitation. There will be icy patches on the roads in some places. The wind will be north-easterly, 5-10 m/s. The temperature at night will be 15-17°, and during the day 7-9° below zero.
The weather in the western, northern, and Vinnytsia regions on the last day of January is expected to be dry, with temperatures at night expected to be 12-17° below zero, during the day 9-14° below zero, and in Zakarpattia during the day from 3° below zero to 2° above zero, according to the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Center.
The rest of the country is expected to see snow on Saturday, January 31, with rain in the southeast of Ukraine, and freezing rain and wet snow in the south, most of the central regions, and the Kharkiv region. The temperature during the day is expected to be 5-10° below zero, in the Azov region and in the Luhansk region from 3° below zero to 2° above zero, and in Crimea 1-6° above zero.
There will be icy patches on the country’s roads in some places. The wind will be north-easterly and northerly, 7-12 m/s, with gusts of 15-20 m/s in some places in the north-east of the country.
In Kyiv, there will be no precipitation on January 31. There will be icy patches on the roads in some places. The wind will be northeast, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night will be 13-15° below zero, and during the day 10-12° below zero.
According to data from the Boris Sreznevsky Central Geophysical Observatory, for the entire period of meteorological observations in Kyiv since 1881, the highest temperature on January 31 was recorded at 8.1°C in 2015, and the lowest was 25.2° below zero (at night) in 1954.
On Sunday, February 1, cold weather is expected in Ukraine: temperatures at night will be 20-25°C, during the day 13-18°C below zero, and in the southern, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions, temperatures at night will be 12-17°C, during the day 8-13°C below zero. In Crimea, temperatures are expected to be 3-8° below zero at night and during the day, and in Zakarpattia, 4-9° below zero at night and around 0° during the day.
No precipitation, only light snow in the southeastern part at night. There will be icy patches on the roads in some places. The wind will be mainly northern, 5-10 m/s.
In Kyiv on February 1, it will be cold with no precipitation, with temperatures of 20-22° at night and 14-16° below zero during the day. There will be icy patches on the roads in some places. The wind will be from the north, 5-10 m/s.
The prolonged cold spell in Europe is pushing gas prices up. The spot price for “day ahead” delivery on the benchmark European TTF hub closed at $486 per 1,000 cubic meters on Wednesday, adding 11% in just one trading day. This is the highest level since June 2025.
On Thursday, trading opened at $491. At the moment, the price has adjusted to $477.
Air temperatures in Europe in January this year are falling to their lowest levels in the last decade and a half. Overall, January (which is already the coldest winter month) is expected to be three degrees colder than the climatic norm and four degrees colder than last year.
Clear weather is accompanied by low wind speeds, or even calm conditions. This increases the load on the power system, as it reduces the output of wind farms. The reliability of the power system is maintained primarily by underground gas storage facilities, which are the most flexible source and closest to the points of consumption.
The average level of gas reserves in underground storage facilities in Europe fell to 48.4% at the end of the gas day on January 20, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe. This is 15 percentage points lower than the average for the last five years. At the moment, European underground gas storage facilities are ahead of the usual rate of consumption by four weeks. Moreover, the GIE observation base knows of examples when such a level (or even much higher – 59%) of reserves was reached only by the end of the withdrawal season and the start of injection.
By the end of 2025, countries in the region had purchased 109 million tons of LNG (142 billion cubic meters in regasified volume), which is 28% more than in 2024. In January 2026, liquefied gas imports could reach 10 million tons, which is 24% higher than a year earlier. And this could be a new record for the European gas industry. Despite high demand, there remains a large unused capacity reserve – on January 20, terminals were operating at 51% of their capacity. There is also a noticeable trend of declining LNG stocks at terminals.
Significant rains are expected on Sunday, April 21, in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, at night and Odessa, Mykolayiv, Kirovograd and Sumy regions, reports Ukrhydrometcenter.
In the afternoon in the eastern, Cherkasy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions thunderstorms, in the south-eastern and central regions wind gusts of 15-20 m/s. In this regard, in these areas declared I level of danger, yellow.
At night on April 21-22, April 21-22 in the western regions on the surface of the soil frost 0-3 ° (I level of danger, yellow).
