It all depends where you live in the UK, tomatoes or any sort planted outside with us do not ripen properly. Even in the greenhouse August is the earliest we get them ripe.

My neighbour grows Gardeners Delight tomatoes. He starts them off in his greenhouse and gives me some and I grow them in large pots on the patio. They are small and sweet and I can pick them in August.

Watch out for Tomato blight which strikes outdoor toms just as they begin to ripen. Go for a disease resistant strain.

We, too, grew Gardener's Delight last year and they've done really well outside. We live in Warwickshire, so our weather should be pretty similar to yours.
If you haven't got a greenhouse to start them off, you could always plant some trays and keep them on a sunny windowsill - it definitely worked for us! You'll want to plant them quite soon though, otherwise they might not have enough time to reach full maturity and reward you with ripen fruit in August.

Good luck,

Diana

Were trying gardeners delight this year, they were recommended. As long as you get plenty of sun, I cant see too many problems...alternatively, you can pick up small tomato greenhouses which are flat packed quite cheaply at the moment...just make sure to peg them down securely! Good luck!

thanks to everyone who answered my query about growing tomatoes outdoors. I shall try Gardeners Delight, in the past I have tried large tomatoes outside, Alicante variety and they all split when they were ripening, so maybe that is tomato blight, also had black marks.

Gardeners Delight win every time for me. I usually raise about 5 plants (there are only 2 of us in the household), I have more than enough to eat or cook with. They taste far better than shop bought toms. I start them off indoors then pop them in a sunny spot and water frequently - thirsty little things! Good luck.