It was a nice day and we had nothing in particular on; note that is not the same as having nothing to do! Bluebells were out in Surrey ...
Photo 1: Bluebells near Oxted, Surrey (13th April 2025)
... and in our back garden ...
Photo 2: Garden Bluebells (16th April 2025)
... so it was time to check out the Malverns. Although a little early in the season, we were not disappointed.
Photo 3: Mary heading for the bluebells, Malverns, April 24th 2025
Photo 4: Malvern Bluebells (24/4/25)
We had planned on having lunch at the Hop Pocket, but a wrong turning meant a change of plan and a delayed lunch at the National Trust's Brockhampton Estate. The catering facilities are somewhat basic but we were able to enjoy the curried cauliflower pasty with a cup of tea, returning later for an ice cream.
Photo 5: Moated Lower Brockhampton Manor House
There was time for a walk through the damson orchard (complete with Hebridean sheep and lambs) ...
Photo 6: Hebridean Sheep in the Damson Orchard
... around the new apple core orchard ...
Photo 6: Apple core Orchard
Cuckoo flower and dandelions were abundant ...
Photo 7: Cuckoo Flower and Dandelions, Brockhampton Estate (24/4/25)
Cuckoo flower (aka lady's smock, mayflower and milkmaids) is the food plant of the Orange Tip Butterfly, arriving from stage right in the next photo ...
Photo 8: Cuckoo Flower and Orange Tip Butterfly
Time to head home after a pleasant day in the countryside.
November - the ninth month (novem = nine) in the 10-month Roman calendar which became the eleventh month when January and February were added for the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
The selected photo for November 2024 shows a wintry scene on the 19th day of the month. The snow melted slowly over the following three days as the weather turned colder with subzero overnight temperatures (Figure 1).
Photo 1: Snowy Scene, Rear Garden (19th November 2024)
The daily photos are collated in this short video ...
Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden - November 2024
November's weather stats from our garden-based Davis Weather Station are summarised in the table below. Storm Bert (23rd/24th) brought strong winds and plenty of rain (see Table).
The first two weeks were mild (mean daily temperature 〜 10 ℃) and dry - the seemingly constant grey skies gave only rare glimpses of the sun (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The next two weeks were colder (mean daily temperature 〜 5-6 ℃) and wetter (>90% of the month's rain) yet just as lacking in sunshine (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The mildest day of the month was the 30th (mean temperature 〜 13 ℃) and this mildness would carry over into December.
Figure 1: Min/Max Daily Temperatures for November 2024
Figure 2: Daily Rainfall and Sunshine Data for November 2024
Looking back over the past five Novembers (2020 - 2024), it is clear the weather for November 2024 was typical for this month - at least based on the most recent weather data. We can expect a few frosts (around four or five) even despite the generally mild temperatures (Figure 3). The mild temperatures are the result of dull grey cloudy skies so, unfortunately, sunshine is often in short supply. While precipitation needs clouds, not all clouds are rain clouds; consequently, rainfall in November can be highly variable (c.f. 2021 and 2022, Figure 4). Storms are a feature of November, hence the wind speeds are often high (Figure 4).
Figure 3: Temperature Data for November (2020 - 2024)
Figure 4: Rain, Wind & Sunshine Trends for November (2020 - 2024)
The following three figures come from the UK Met Office's monthly report for November 2024. Figure 5 shows November's mean temperature was similar to the 1991-2020 average for most of the UK except for a few western locations where the temperature was above average. Herefordshire's monthly temperature was close to the 30-year mean (1991-2020) in general agreement with the temperature data from our backyard weather station (Figure 3).
Figure 5: UK Mean Temperature Anomalies for November 2024
According to Figure 6, Herefordshire's rainfall in November 2024 was close to average except for the south of the county where the rainfall was higher than normal. Our weather station data (Figure 4) indicates that Hereford was in the wetter part of the county.
Figure 6: UK Rainfall (relative) for November 2024
Finally, in Figure 7, we can see that Herefordshire was relatively sunny compared with the bordering counties even though sunshine levels overall were only average. Data from our garden weather station (Figure 4) indicated sunshine levels were probably lower than average.
Figure 7: UK Sunshine Hours (relative) for November 2024
Jobs in the Garden
Harvesting potatoes, beetroot, parsnip, spinach and chard.
Photo 2: Red Admiral Butterfly (November 30th 2024)
And, finally, some photos of the garden (plus a few extras) ...
Photo 3: Late Autumn colour with Nasturtiums and Salvia (Nov 1st)
Photo 4: Dahlias, Rowanberries and Cosmos (Nov 1st)
Photo 5: Cosmos (Nov 1st)
Photo 6: Cobwebs in Autumn (15th Nov)
Photo 7: Neighbours Garden Waste Drop-off Point (15th Nov)
Photo 8: First Snow of the 2024/25 Winter (19th Nov)
Video 2: Late Autumn Snow in Hereford (19th November 2024)
Photo 9: Melting Snow on the PV Solar Panels
Photo 10: Tomatoes Ripening Indoors
Storm Bert (22 Nov to 25 Nov 2024) brought lots of rain and some low-lying areas (i.e. flood plains) were flooded. The 'lake' below (Photo 11) is, in fact, the rugby pitches of Hereford RFC which regularly flood in winter due to their proximity to the River Wye.
Photo 11: Flooded Rugby Fields (25th Nov)
The River Wye (in flood) with the underwater Hereford RFC rugby pitches to the left (Photo 12) ...
Photo 12: Tree-lined River Wye in Flood
The nearby playing fields of Hereford Cathedral School were also flooded. The fence line in Photo 13 marks the boundary of the playing fields and the riverside path. The river level rose approximately 4.5 metres above its typical level at the height of Storm Bert.
Photo 13: Flooded Playing fields of Hereford cathedral School (25th Nov 2024)
I was unable to perform my citizen science duties during the flood because the cycle paths I use to get to my site were under water (Photo 14) ...
Photo 14: Cycle Path during Storm Bert (25th Nov 2024)
... as was my sampling site, located approximately 150 metres downstream from where Photo 15 was taken. The brook is usually about a metre wide and 10-15 cm deep at this point but, under flood conditions (Photo 15), it is about 3 metres wide and 0.5 metres deep. My sampling site would have looked like a lake with no discernible evidence for a brook or stream.
Photo 15: Looking Towards my Citizen Science Sampling Site (25/11/24)
Towards the end of the month, the weather had improved sufficiently for a walk up to the 'private zoo' owned by a local businessman ...
Photo 16: Rhea in the Foreground and Flamingoes in the Background (28/11/24)
October - when the Roman Calendar only had 10 months in a year, this was the eighth month.
This month's daily photo was taken on the 24th of the month. The vegetation is still predominantly green but the autumn colours are beginning to show.
Photo 1: Rear Garden on 24th October 2025
All of October's daily photos can be viewed in the video below ...
Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden - October 2024
The Herefordshire weather (in October 2024) was mild, if somewhat dull, with a few periods of heavy rain. The first storm of the year, Storm Ashley, was on the 20th of the month - it largely bypassed Herefordshire but we did record the highest wind speed of the month on that day (see Table). The minimum monthly temperature on the 11th October was just below 0 ℃ and was recorded as an air frost day; the only one of the month.
Daily minimum and maximum temperatures are shown in Figure 1. Daytime temperatures were generally 15 ℃ or higher for most of the month (80%) while nighttime temperatures seldom dropped below 5 ℃ (20%).
Figure 1: Min/Max Daily Temperatures - October 2024
Sunshine was a rare commodity in October with rain (both light and heavy) and/or leaden skies a constant theme. High rainfall in the middle of October (15th - 16th) resulted in some flooding in Herefordshire though we were not greatly affected in Hereford itself.
Figure 2: Rainfall & Sunshine for October 2024
Weather trends for October in Hereford are presented in Figure 4 and Figure 5. Note: changes in climate are not discernible over time periods of 5 years; time series of 20-30 years are preferable. Nevertheless, we know from the temperature records of the nearby Ross-on-Wye weather station that autumn is warming faster than the other seasons in Herefordshire. The same trend is difficult to see in the temperature data from my weather station; although the data certainly doesn't contradict the suggestion that Octobers are getting warmer (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Temperature Data for October 2020 - 2024
With plenty of rain (Figure 4), warm daytime temperatures and minimal frosts (Figure 3), October has become an integral part of the growing season for flowers, vegetables and fruit.
Figure 4: Rain, Wind & Sunshine Trends for October (2020 - 2024)
The following three figures are taken from the UK Met Office's monthly report for October 2024. Temperatures for Herefordshire were above the 1991-2020 average apart from a small area in the northwest of the county (Figure 5).
Figure 5: UK Mean Temperature Anomalies for October 2024
As Figure 6 shows, Herefordshire had above average rainfall in the west of the county but only average rainfall in the east. The difference was largely down to the heavy rain in the middle of the month (15th - 16th) - see Figure 2.
Figure 6: UK Rainfall (relative) for October 2024
Met Office weather data confirms sunshine levels were average in Herefordshire (Figure 7) in agreement with the local data from my weather station (Figure 4).
Figure 7: UK Sunshine hours (relative) for October 2024
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