Conker players forced to freeze seeds after UK storms bring early fall

About 250 people do battle at Conker World Championships in Northamptonshire on Sunday

Contestants gearing up for this year’s conker tournaments have been forced to freeze the seeds they use to compete after stormy weather caused them to drop earlier than normal.

Every autumn hundreds of people take part in competitions where they play conkers, a traditional British children’s game in which participants use a conker threaded on to string to strike their opponent’s conker until one breaks.