The weather is being blamed for two cases of late blight found this week in P.E.I. potato fields.

Late blight first appears on the leaves of the plant. (CBC)

"It wasn't completely unexpected," Brian Beaton, the potato co-ordinator with the P.E.I. Department of Agriculture told CBC News on Wednesday.

"One case is in Mount Mellick, just east of Charlottetown, and one case is in Park Corner, north of Kensington. With the weather conditions that we've had over the last few weeks, with the dark, damp, cloudy days, it's been ideal conditions for late blight development in the potato crop."

Beaton said potato growers are putting fungicides on their crops to help reduce the spread of the blight.

Blight can be a devastating disease for potato crops, working its way from the leaves down into the potatoes, where it destroys them. The fungus was the cause of the Irish potato famine, but with modern farming techniques can generally be controlled.