View from the Rear Window - July 2025 ~ Crafty Cabbage

I am not young enough to know everything - Oscar Wilde

This year's warm dry summer continued into July though it was not always sunny. The lack of rain is certainly impacting the brooks and rivers where water levels are as low as I've ever seen. This month's garden picture (Photo 1) was taken on the 21st July. Foliage is verdant green except for the acer tbush in the centre of the photo which is already beginning to take on its autumn hue.

There is a good crop of apples on the Rev W Wilks apple tree (behind the bench); usually ready for picking in September/October, harvesting will be much earlier this year due the very warm summer. In the foreground, my trusty Brompton folding bike is loaded up with my water testing gear ready for some Citizen Science work. The courgettes are collecting on the patio table.

Photo 1: View from the Rear Window (21st July 2025)

Daily garden photos for July 2025 are collated in Video 1.

Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden (July 2025)

Summary weather stats for July 2025 are collated in Table 1. July is usually the hottest month of the year in this neck of the woods; this seems likely to be the case for 2025, with a mean monthly temperature of 20 ℃, unless something extraordinary happens in August. Other noteworthy weather facts for July 2025:

a high maximum daily temperature (36 ℃) with two thirds (66%) of days registering temperatures of 25 ℃ or more
below average precipitation with no rain on ~85% of the days in July (26/31)
despite the lack of rain, sunshine levels were about average
no strong winds

Table 1: Summary Weather Statistics for July 2025
Weather Parameter	Value	Dates
Average Monthly Temperature	20 oC
Maximum Monthly Temperature	36 oC	11th
Minimum Monthly Temperature	9 oC	3rd
Number of Air Frost Days	0
Number of Hot Days (> 25 oC)	20
Monthly Precipitation	25.6 mm
Greatest 24 h Precipitation	8.8 mm	19th - 20th
Number of Dry Days	26
Monthly Sunshine Hours (estimated)	203
Highest Wind Speed	32 km/h	7th & 14th
Heating Degree Days	36.7
Cooling Degree Days	82.1

Daily minimum and maximum temperatures are displayed in Figure 1 (click to enlarge). Daytime temperatures were very high during the second week of the month but much nearer average for the remainder. The high monthly average temperature (20 ℃, Table 1) was largely down to the high overnight temperatures that, with one exception, were always double digits. The average minimum temperature was 14 ℃ overnight which made a significant contribution to the overall mean monthly temperature of 20 ℃.

Figure 1: Min/Max Daily Temperatures (July 2025)

Daily precipitation and sunshine hours for July 2025 are shown in Figure 2 (click to enlarge). The first half of July was bone dry; fortunately, there was some rain in the second half of the month though most of it fell on just 3 days. There was plenty of sunshine in the first half of July but this was replaced by cloudy conditions in the second half.

Figure 2: Daily Rainfall & Sunshine Data (July 2025)

Having collected Hereford weather statistics for 6 years or more, I am interested to see if there are any year-on-year trends in the data emerging. In terms of temperature (Figure 3), there is a hint (and no more) of an upward trend in the mean monthly temperatures for July though we definitely need more data to confirm or discount it. The maximum and minimum monthly temperatures (Figure 3) also hint at an upward trend in temperatures but there is sufficient natural variation in this data set to be equally confident there is no such trend.

Figure 3: July Temperature Data for Hereford (2020 - 2025)

Similarly, there are, as yet unconvincing,'trends' suggesting July is becoming drier in Hereford (Figure 4) though not necessarily sunnier.

Figure 4: July Wind, Rain & Sunshine Data for Hereford (2020 - 2025)

The next three figures are taken from the UK Met Office's monthly report for July 2025; Herefordshire is marked on the maps. All of the UK experienced above average temperatures (Figure 5) with the Herefordshire mean monthly temperature well above the long term (1991 - 2020) average.

The nearby Credenhill weather station reports the long-term (1991 - 2020) average temperature for Hereford in July as 16.9 ℃. Figure 5 shows the July temperature for Herefordshire was 1.5 ℃ to 2.5 ℃ higher than this long-term average: i.e. 18.4 ℃ to 19.4 ℃ for July 2025. My Davis weather station rounded the mean monthly temperature to 20 ℃ (Table 1); close to the reported Met Office figure especially if one considers the extra warming effect of the built environment (Urban Heat Island effect).

Figure 5: UK Mean Temperature Anomalies (July 2025)

Figure 6 displays the rainfall for the UK relative to the long-term average (1991 - 2020). Apart from the South-East of England and a few other areas, precipitation was average or below average for most of the UK. The long-term (1991 - 2020) average Hereford rainfall for July, according to the Credenhill weather station, is 48.5 mm. Therefore, the 25.6 mm rainfall recorded by my weather station (Table 1) indicates Hereford received only 50% of its expected rainfall in agreement with Figure 6.

Figure 6: UK Rainfall (relative) for July 2025

Figure 7 shows that sunshine levels in July were close to normal for the majority of locations in the UK; Wales, South-West England and Northern Scotland bucked the trend with slightly above average sunshine hours. Based on the last 6 years sunshine data from my weather station, July 2025 was 5 - 10% sunnier than usual in agreement with Figure 7.

Figure 7: UK Sunshine Hours (relative) for July 2025

Jobs in the Garden

Harvesting field beans (1.6 kg), courgettes (17 kg), cucumbers (52), potatoes (1.5 kg), onions, French Beans (1 kg), spinach, chard, bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, lettuce, radishes, garlic (40 cloves), blackcurrants (1 kg), redcurrants (3 kg), gooseberries (0.5 kg), strawberries (0.5 kg), apples (note: weights and numbers are minimum values as not all pickings were recorded)
Regular topping up of the Quadgrow, Veg/Salad Planters and Strawberry reservoirs but no irrigation of outdoor vegetable/fruit.
Composting - the all year round activity!
Weeding, etc.