LONDON - The British arm of German discounter Aldi has followed rivals Asda and Morrisons by imposing customer purchase limits on salad vegetables after supplies were hit by disrupted harvests in southern Europe and north Africa, it said on Wednesday.

"We are limiting purchases of peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes to three units per person to ensure that as many customers as possible can buy what they need," an Aldi UK spokesperson said.

Asda imposed purchase limits on eight lines of vegetables and fruit on Tuesday, while Morrisons imposed them on four lines from Wednesday.

Market leader Tesco, No. 2 Sainsbury's and Lidl GB do not currently have buying limits in place.

This week, social media has been awash with pictures of empty fruit and vegetable shelves in supermarkets with tomatoes in particular short supply.

“Difficult weather conditions in the South of Europe and Northern Africa have disrupted harvest for some fruit and vegetables including tomatoes and peppers," Andrew Opie, director of food & sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents all the major supermarkets, said on Wednesday.

The disruption is expected to last a few weeks, he added.

(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Kylie MacLellan and William James)