Warm weather and rains in the first 10 days of November have improved the condition of Ukrainian winter crops in many regions, state weather forecasters said on Wednesday.

Ukraine traditionally sows significant areas of winter crops, mainly wheat, and their harvest depends largely on favourable weather.

"Rains significantly improved soil moisture conditions, which, combined with warm weather, contributed to the growth and development of winter crops," APK-Inform consultancy quoted forecasters' report as saying.

"Given the large number of late sowings, this was a favourable factor for improving the phase development," it said.

The agriculture ministry said on Tuesday that farmers had sown about 5.7 million hectares of winter crops as of Nov 14, and the area included 3.97 million hectares of winter wheat, or 91.1% of the expected area.

Ukraine's winter wheat typically accounts for at least 95% of its overall wheat output. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing by Louise Heavens)