2025 went out on a high note!

 

We were finally able to move back into our house in December. All new windows and doors, new paint inside and covings installed. It's lovely. The rugs were taken out for cleaning and returned on the 30th. As of today, New Year's Day, it's liveable. Finally. Cleaning the dust was a formidable task and will undoubtedly continue for a long time to come as the dust settles.  

Naturally, December proved to be a crazy, busy time. We had the last of the grapevine workshops at Turlough House on the 6th. We had the ICC Christmas lunch in Sligo on the 13th. We both had eye exams that week. Alex's WhyNot Christmas gathering was on the 18th, the AGM for the Quay Village was on the 19th, and we were flying out to Germany on the 21st. We'd be gone for 8 days until the 28th. Naturally, nothing was done in the vineyard or gardens since September, when the upheaval began.
We booked our first Airbnb over the New Year -- a family with a toddler and baby. The cleaner decided it would cost €2000 to deep clean 55 Fairways, so I took it on myself. One room a day for 9 days. Toothbrush in hand and cleaners galore. I finished before we left for Germany. The renters are thrilled and have asked to stay an extra day. Phew, Airbnb challenge aced. We have two more bookings already. One in January and one in April. Woohoo.
Meanwhile, we moved our stuff back to Ross from 22 Quay Village and settled into our renewed home. There were a few details to tackle still, like the library and rugs. Wreaths for three houses, and fake Christmas trees were distributed, one for each house. Packing for a road trip through Germany at the same time. 
We were to visit Angela and Illiana Dingle-Padberg first at the Forest House, then we'd drive to east of Hamburg to Florian and Celine's country home, and last, we'd visit Axel and Svenya near Bremen. Sadly, Axel passed away that Monday. We stopped in to see Svenya and the boys, which was important. Christmas was lovely with Celine, Florian and their daughters -- Ciara, Josepha, and Emma. 

Luckily, our flights were all good. When we got to Dublin, we had to slow charge Selkie, which had 14% left on her battery. While we had lunch, we learned that Alex's stepsister, Aileen, had fallen, cracked her skull, and had 4 brain bleeds. No visit to Aileen and Sheila in Dun Laoghaire as had been planned for the return trip. We found a fast charger at an Applegreen in the suburbs of the airport after a harrowing experience trying to find the chargers at the Mall. (Note to self: avoid malls after Christmas, especially if you're looking for chargers.) We stopped in Kinnegad (will never stop anywhere else en route to Dublin) to top up. 
Needless to say, we haven't done anything in the vineyard in ages, but are prepared to start pruning later this month. The workshop on winter pruning helped. The weather has finally found a stable pattern for this week. The flu is making its rounds, but we've managed to avoid it all so far. Thank God. 
Despite the start, December ended much drier than normal and somewhat cooler than recent years. The soil temperature was, however, warmer than the LTA and prior years. Curious. This week is supposed to be cold and frosty, but we'll see. Alex is off to Achill with his buddies this weekend. So, where do I want to spend my Saturday night? So many choices. Will probably end up turning over the rental property. I need to get a life. 
Welcome 2026. That sounds so science fiction. No way am I living in 2026. 

Monthly values for NEWPORT up to 31-dec-2025

Total rainfall in millimetres for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
-999	n/a
2025	105.0	112.4	59.3	102.8	88.2	153.8	130.0	148.2	214.9	186.4	207.8	164.2	1673.0
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
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

Mean temperature in degrees Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
-999	n/a
2025	6.0	7.1	8.9	11.6	14.0	14.9	16.5	16.7	13.3	11.7	8.8	7.6	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
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

Mean 10cm soil temperature for NEWPORT at 0900 UTC

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
2026	n/a
2025	5.1	6.0	8.1	10.9	15.4	16.3	17.8	17.5	13.9	12.1	8.9	6.9	11.6
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
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

Global Solar Radiation in Joules/cm2 for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
-999	n/a
2025	7308	11955	25430	44615	64505	45465	47402	38468	29164	11727	7736	4441	338216
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
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

Potential Evapotranspiration (mm) for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
-999	n/a
2025	12.9	22.0	39.5	70.1	100.3	76.4	80.3	68.6	45.4	28.0	13.9	15.1	572.5
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
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

Evaporation (mm) for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual
-999	n/a
2025	17.1	30.5	55.3	97.0	139.0	107.8	110.6	94.7	64.1	37.1	18.2	18.6	790.0
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
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

Degree Days Below 15.5 Degree Celsius for NEWPORT

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2025	294	235	205	132	82	49	23	21	76	121	201	246	1685
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

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Notes on the Data

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.

So much rain and wind

 

So much rain and wind in December. Yesterday, we drove to Sligo for an ICC lunch at the Driftwood in Rosses Point. It bucketed rain, and the wind drove spray off the ocean onto the peninsula. It felt like we were going to be swept away. We had a great lunch (tuna sushi, beef cheeks and créme brulé) and a lovely stay at the Driftwood (best shower ever). We had a light dinner at Austie's (pizza and wings) and nightcaps at Harry's Bar, all within walking distance.

At Harry's, a charming, quirky nautical place, we met some people at the bar who we had already seen at Austin's. Manuela, a Brazilian Portuguese woman living in Milan who is writing a book about the Spanish Armada, was in Sligo for research. A young man was visiting home from London where he landed after being an award-winning vintner in Napa, CA for 7 years.  He made wines rated 98 by Robert Parker, then lost everything when wildfires destroyed his vineyards and the insurance refused to pay up because it was an 'act of God'. 

He was in London trying his hand at marketing wines and was thrilled to hear of our vineyard and of all the others. We encouraged him to join the Facebook group Irish Winegrowers. He has our contact details and will be coming out to visit. He was so thrilled to learn what's going on here in Ireland. 

He may be exactly what we need at this moment. He's a lovely young Irishman, hungry to make his mark. 

Harry's on the left

Driftwood lunch

Climate Statement for November

 

It was the fifth wettest November on record. It wasn't imaginary. The temperature was slightly above the LTA. The national mean air temperature of 8.61°C (using the Island of Ireland dataset) placed October 2025 21st warmest in 126 years.  8.61 °C is 1.54 °C above 1961-1990 LTA and 0.65 °C above the most recent 1991-2020 LTA. The national average rainfall of 189 mm ranked 5th wettest in 85 years and 136% of its 1991-2020 LTA. It was a very mild first half, a cooler second half. Storm Claudia was followed by an arctic blast that caused a swing in conditions. 

Alex dug another trench across the field above the donkey shed yesterday. The Golf Course has cancelled all play as it's too soggy. I haven't ventured into the vineyard in the past week. I'll check on it tomorrow. 

Climate Statement for October 2025

 

Met Éireann has proclaimed that October was "Mild, dull and wet overall".  That about says it all. The only outstanding feature of October was Storm Amy. The highest gust recorded during Storm Amy was reported at Malin Head, Co. Donegal, with 148 km/h, and the month’s highest 10-minute mean wind speed was 111 km/h, also at Malin Head during Storm Amy.

Only 20 days to go before the days start getting longer...

🙏