With freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy - Oscar Wilde
Without wishing to sound boring and monotonous, August was warm, dry and sunny. Just like March, April, May, June and July. Despite the very dry Spring and Summer, the garden has held up remarkably well with an absolute minimum of watering apart from the container plants. The roses are in their second flush and we will be picking certain fruits (plums, apples, pears & grapes) much earlier than usual.
This month's garden photo was taken on the 28th August when the roses were blooming marvellous as they were in June.
Photo 1: View of the Rear Garden (28th August 2025)
Daily garden photos from the rear window are collated in Video 1.
Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden (August 2025)
Summary weather statistics for August 2025 are collated in Table 1. We had some very hot days when the daytime temperature pushed the mercury above 30 ℃. The main 'feature' however was the lack of rain (less than 25 mm in total and >75% of the days dry).
Table 1: Summary Weather Statistics for August 2025
Daytime maximum temperatures (Figure 1) were fairly consistent throughout the whole month except for the seven day heatwave (10th to 17th) when the daily maximum averaged 29 ℃. Night-time temperatures were double digit apart from the 6th (9 ℃) and 22nd (8 ℃).
Figure 1: Min/Max Daily Temperatures for August 2025
As noted already, there was very little rain this month. Most (87%) of the rain fell in the last 5 days of August (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Daily Rain & Sunshine Data For August 2025
With 6 years of August 'weather' collected from my Davis Weather Station, we are starting to look for emerging trends. Bearing in mind that the time series data are limited to just 6 years, some discernible trends may just be appearing, especially if you close one eye and squint with the other! For example, Figure 3 suggests the maximum monthly temperatures are on the rise. Whether average monthly temperatures are showing a small increase is still debatable. More data, please.
Figure 3: August Temperature Data for Hereford (2020 - 2025)
From Figure 4, it is clear that dry Augusts are becoming the norm for a British Summer. Climate change is expected to lead to hotter drier summers and warmer wetter winters. Perhaps we are starting to see these trends emerging.
Figure 4: August Wind, Rain & Sunshine Data for Hereford (2020 - 2025)
The following three figures are taken from here since the usual monthly report was not yet available. Temperatures were slightly above the long-term (1991 - 2020) average for most of the UK, including Herefordshire (Figure 5).
According to the nearby Credenhill Weather Station (approximately 4 miles away), the long-term (1991 - 2020) mean August temperature for Hereford is 16.52 ℃. Since the mean temperature anomaly for Herefordshire was between +0.5 ℃ and +1.5 ℃ (Figure 5), we would expect Hereford 's August mean temperature to be between 17 - 18 ℃. The slightly higher mean temperature recorded by my Davis Weather Station (19 ℃) is likely a combination of the urban heat island effect and rounding errors.
Figure 5:UK Mean Temperature Anomalies (August 2025)
The relative rainfall for most of the UK was well below the long-term average except for a few west coast locations. Rainfall in Herefordshire (yellow circle, Figure 6) was about 50% the 'normal' August rainfall according to the Met Office's statistics. The Credenhill Weather Station records the average August rainfall for that location as 58.42 mm making the 24.8 mm recorded in our back garden just 42% of the long-term average. So in full agreement with the Met Office data.
Figure 6: UK Rainfall (relative) for August 2025
UK sunshine hours for August 2025, as a percentage of the long-term average (1991 - 2020) are summarised on Figure 7. Herefordshire (circled) had above average sunshine which ties in nicely with the weather stats from my own weather station (Figure 4). Strangely, August did not feel especially sunny though my memory may have been clouded (pun intended) by the cooler wetter 6-day period at the end of the month (Figure 1 & Figure 2).
Figure 7: Sunshine Hours (relative) for August 2025
Jobs in the Garden
Harvesting Vegetables: Potatoes. French Beans, Calabrese, Aubergines, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Sweetcorn, Onions
Harvesting Fruit: Raspberries, Strawberries, Gooseberries. Redcurrants, Blackcurrants, Plums and Apples (Rev W Wilks). The Jubilee Plum harvest was the first of any significance (800 g) since planting the young trees six years ago.
Photo 2: Jubilee Plums (28th August)
Storage/Preserving of Rev W Wilks Apples: The bulk of the crop was dehydrated or frozen for long term storage; undamaged apples were stored on a shelf for use in the next month. Some damaged apples were converted into apple crumble pies for immediate consumption.
General garden tidying and, of course, composting!
Flora & Fauna in the Garden
Blackbird (x2, Male & female)
Blue Tit (x5)
Great Tit (x2)
Collared Dove (x2)
Crow (x1)
House Sparrow (x15)
Magpie (x1)
Robin (x1)
Starling (x10)
Wood Pigeon (incl Squab)
Photo 3: Wood Pigeon Squab (31st August 2025) on the Nest
Small White Butterfly
Large White Butterfly
Red Admiral Butterfly
Photo 4: Red Admiral on Currant Bush (15th August 2025)
Oak Galls in the Mini Wood (6th August) - once the resident gall wasp has left, the galls will be turned into iron gall ink
Photo 4: Oak Galls in the Mini Wood (6th August 2025)
And, finally, some photos from the garden ...
Photo 5: Cyclamen in the Mini Wood (27th August 2025)
Photo 6: Cyclamen in the Mini Wood (27th August 2025)
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