The grapes are maturing rapidly, and so we started bagging them yesterday to protect them from the birds. The Rondo are particularly nice this year, although we do have some powdery mildew. We have a heatwave underway, so we'll have more than 5 days of 25C heat and hopefully enough moisture to plump them up.
Our 4 plums are ripening as well, so we may have a banner season.
David Llewellyn, of Llewellyn's Orchard and Lusca wines and ciders, and his wife Anna and their two boys, Lenny and baby, visited us today. David has been growing grapes for ~35 years, starting as a hobby before becoming his profession. He has about 1/2 acre planted with mostly Rondo. Half of his vines are under a long cloche polytunnel where he grows the Cabernet and Merlot grapes. His vines are planted much closer together than ours, with only one spur per vine.
After visiting the vineyard and winery, we sat down to a simple lunch of sandwiches, cherry tomatoes and pickles. We sampled Meadosweet, Black Currant, and Crabapple and Rosehip cordials, followed by apple, currant and blackberry squares. It was a very pleasant day in glorious sunshine. Anna and Lenny were delightful, and it was fun to meet them all.
While Spain and Portugal are melting with temperatures in the mid-40s, we are basking in 25°C and sunshine. The grapes are ripening at a fast pace. And since we had some evidence of mildew, I've been spraying the vines with a dilute solution of apple cider vinegar. I smell very nice.
Mildew spray recipe
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July 2025 ended up fairly average, with the exception of one observation: Degree Days Below 15.5°C were lower than the LTA and far below those of the last three years. That means the daily temperature didn't fluctuate as much as in prior years. Could that be the reason the grapes are maturing so much earlier?
Storm Floris which brought us more than 15 mm of rain all told, pushed us over the LTA for rainfall. Our mean temperature was average but soil temperature was higher than previous years.
I also discovered a cool new resource from Met Eireann. The Weather Observations Website (WOW) https://wow.met.ie/ provides real-time weather reporting.
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| View of the vineyard beyond donkeys grooming. |
Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 08-aug-2025
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 105.0 | 112.4 | 59.3 | 102.8 | 88.2 | 153.8 | 130.0 | 29.4 | 780.9 | ||||
| 2024 | 125.7 | 197.5 | 152.5 | 119.4 | 48.8 | 80.7 | 80.8 | 257.5 | 44.1 | 150.7 | 143.3 | 173.7 | 1574.7 |
| 2023 | 183.2 | 91.6 | 188.4 | 121.1 | 48.5 | 77.9 | 206.8 | 139.8 | 142.4 | 144.7 | 209.6 | 293.8 | 1847.8 |
| 2022 | 98.8 | 260.4 | 67.8 | 84.0 | 107.0 | 148.0 | 59.2 | 104.1 | 97.3 | 233.9 | 187.5 | 154.6 | 1602.6 |
| LTA | 166.4 | 146.6 | 129.0 | 98.0 | 99.2 | 93.5 | 111.6 | 133.0 | 131.8 | 153.9 | 180.9 | 190.7 | 1634.6 |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6.0 | 7.1 | 8.9 | 11.6 | 14.0 | 14.9 | 16.5 | 15.7 | 11.5 | ||||
| 2024 | 6.1 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 9.9 | 13.1 | 12.9 | 14.9 | 14.9 | 13.6 | 11.8 | 9.2 | 8.2 | 10.9 |
| 2023 | 6.6 | 8.0 | 7.6 | 9.9 | 13.3 | 17.4 | 14.9 | 15.8 | 15.2 | 11.9 | 8.7 | 7.9 | 11.4 |
| 2022 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 8.0 | 9.9 | 12.6 | 13.8 | 15.9 | 16.2 | n/a | 12.2 | 9.4 | 5.2 | 10.7 |
| LTA | 6.3 | 6.4 | 7.5 | 9.5 | 12.0 | 14.2 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 13.8 | 11.1 | 8.5 | 6.7 | 10.6 |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 8.1 | 10.9 | 15.4 | 16.3 | 17.8 | n/a | 11.4 | ||||
| 2024 | 4.2 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 9.5 | 13.6 | 14.4 | 15.8 | 15.4 | 13.7 | 11.2 | 8.9 | 7.2 | 10.6 |
| 2023 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 6.6 | 9.1 | 13.7 | 18.6 | 16.3 | 16.3 | 14.7 | 11.1 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 11.1 |
| 2022 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 9.3 | 13.2 | 14.8 | 16.8 | 16.6 | n/a | 11.5 | 8.4 | 4.4 | 10.4 |
| LTA | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7308 | 11955 | 25430 | 44615 | 64505 | 45465 | 47402 | 10487 | 257167 | ||||
| 2024 | 7248 | 12401 | 23032 | 39685 | 47333 | 50366 | 49632 | 38203 | 31451 | 16628 | 6586 | 4121 | 326686 |
| 2023 | 6245 | 10639 | 21429 | 37277 | 55732 | 58473 | 41797 | 36857 | 29338 | 16225 | 8326 | 4411 | 326749 |
| 2022 | 6311 | 10756 | 33399 | 40555 | 51569 | 47246 | 48439 | 51169 | n/a | 15988 | 7869 | 6167 | 319468 |
| LTA | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 12.9 | 22.0 | 39.5 | 70.1 | 100.3 | 76.4 | 80.3 | 18.4 | 419.9 | ||||
| 2024 | 15.4 | 18.2 | 36.0 | 56.9 | 74.7 | 76.7 | 80.9 | 60.8 | 49.0 | 27.6 | 14.2 | 15.6 | 526.0 |
| 2023 | 14.3 | 20.9 | 33.0 | 56.4 | 83.3 | 100.6 | 70.1 | 64.4 | 50.1 | 26.1 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 548.1 |
| 2022 | 13.7 | 23.0 | 47.2 | 60.6 | 77.7 | 76.0 | 80.4 | 82.0 | n/a | 27.2 | 17.2 | 9.2 | 514.2 |
| LTA | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 17.1 | 30.5 | 55.3 | 97.0 | 139.0 | 107.8 | 110.6 | 26.7 | 584.0 | ||||
| 2024 | 20.2 | 25.4 | 51.9 | 83.7 | 104.9 | 109.8 | 112.6 | 88.3 | 67.8 | 37.5 | 18.4 | 20.0 | 740.5 |
| 2023 | 18.8 | 28.2 | 47.6 | 81.6 | 118.2 | 137.1 | 99.5 | 89.1 | 67.8 | 35.5 | 18.4 | 19.0 | 760.8 |
| 2022 | 17.9 | 32.4 | 66.5 | 86.8 | 114.5 | 109.2 | 111.1 | 113.2 | n/a | 37.0 | 22.0 | 11.4 | 722.0 |
| LTA | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 294 | 235 | 205 | 132 | 82 | 49 | 23 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2024 | 293 | 221 | 234 | 169 | 91 | 89 | 45 | 41 | 77 | 117 | 191 | 228 | 1796 |
| 2023 | 275 | 210 | 246 | 171 | 85 | 18 | 39 | 26 | 53 | 118 | 203 | 237 | 1681 |
| 2022 | 256 | 234 | 235 | 171 | 97 | 63 | 30 | 28 | N/A | 103 | 185 | 320 | N/A |
Evaporation and PE data are calculated using Penman/Monteith formulae.
The ‘LTA’ (referred to within a table) is average for the climatological long-term-average (LTA) reference period 1981-2010.
Data updated daily at Mid-day.
To view the Weather Events for Public Works Contracts data, select a station first, then click the link just below the map.
