(TheGuardian) - France to fill fewer bottles than Italy – again – after freeze hit vineyards in Beaujolais, Bourgogne, Champagne and Charentes.

Fierce storms that hit France in April will help to push wine production down by more than 10% this year, the ministry of agriculture has said.

Unseasonably cool weather through the spring and into the summer will drag overall production down to 42.9m hectolitres (940m gallons) from 47.8m a year ago, the ministry’s statistical service, Agreste, said on Thursday.

Agreste blamed “the spring freeze that hit certain wine-growing areas, recurring winds made worse by drought around the Mediterranean and damage stemming from frost”.

Champagne was one of the worst-hit regions after several bouts of spring frost and hailstorms which are forecast to drag output down by as much as a third, leading to harvesting being already a week behind schedule based on a 10-year average. An even larger fall is likely to beset the Loire valley.

The inclement weather means France, which has also had to battle outbreaks of rot and mildew, will probably remain behind Italy, which last year claimed the crown as the world’s biggest wine producer.