Late frost ices over French vineyards and threatens fruit crops

Wine growers warm themselves around a fire as anti-frost candles burn in a vineyard to protect blooming buds and flowers from the frost, in Chablis, Burgundy region, on Monday April 4 2022 (Thibault Camus/AP)

French vintners are lighting candles to thaw their grapevines to save them from a late frost following a winter warm spell – a temperature swing that is threatening fruit crops in multiple countries.

Ice-coated vines stretched across hillsides around Chablis as the Burgundy region awoke on Monday to temperatures of -5C .