The decision by Britain to leave the EU has already had an impact on the sale of Dutch cut flowers, the Financieele Dagblad said on Tuesday.

Sales to the UK declined by 14% in December, the paper said. The UK is second only to Germany as a buyer of flowers auctioned in the Netherlands, a market which exceeds €5.5bn every year.

In particular, nearly 33% of chrysanthemums exports head to Britain, the paper said.

Brexit comes hard on the heels of the Russian boycott of a great many European products including flowers. The Russian market was just starting to develop when the import ban was imposed, a source told the FD.