View from the Rear Window - January 2026

 Maturity is a high price to pay for growing up - Tom Stoppard

We were glad when January ended. The first week of the new year started off cold, dry with a decent amount of sunshine. It then continued cold and wet for another week. It warmed up a little in the final two weeks of January (no frosts); the downside of this relatively warmer weather (bearing in mind it is still winter) was that it turned much wetter.

This month's garden picture (Photo 1) was taken on the 12th January and is representative of the whole month (i.e. dank).

Photo 1: Back Garden on 12th January 2025

And nobody's favourite: Where's Woody?

Photo 2: Where's Woody?

All January's daily garden photos are collated in Video 1.

Video 1: Daily Photos of the Rear Garden (January 2026)

Selected weather stats from our garden weather station are summarised in Table 1. There were only 7 frost days in January which is on the low side - most of them came in the first week which may have influenced the perception of a cold month overall. Monthly precipitation (92.0 mm) was above average which definitely influenced the perception of a wet month! The greatest amount of rain within a 24 hour period came on the 8/9th when Storm Goretti hit the UK. Herefordshire largely escaped the damaging winds though. The Isles of Scilly, Cornwall and the Channel Islands took the brunt of the storm in the UK - here is a video from Longships Lighthouse taken during Storm Goretti which I found interesting.

Table 1: Summary Weather Statistics for January 2026
Weather Parameter	Value	Dates
Average Monthly Temperature	5 oC
Maximum Monthly Temperature	12 oC	11th
Minimum Monthly Temperature	-5 oC	6th
Number of Air Frost Days	7
Number of Hot Days (> 25 oC)	0
Monthly Precipitation	92.0 mm
Greatest 24 h Precipitation	19.2 mm	8th - 9th
Number of Dry Days	7
Monthly Sunshine Hours (estimated)	46
Highest Wind Speed	40 km/h	24th
Heating Degree Days	412.6
Cooling Degree Days	0.0

Daily minimum and maximum temperatures for January 2026 are reproduced in Figure 1. The first half of January was colder than the second half due to a combination of higher daytime and nighttime temperatures. The lowest temperature (-5 ℃) was recorded between 1.30 am and 2.00 am on the morning of the 6th. Somewhat unexpectedly, the highest temperature (12 ℃) was recorded in the evening (ca 8.30 pm) on the 11th.

Figure 1: Daily Min/Max Temperatures (January 2026)

Daily rainfall and sunshine hours are shown in Figure 2. It rained on 24 of the 31 days in January. From the 10th January, it rained every day with only 2 exceptions. There are reasons to be thankful, however, since it rained every day in January in the village of Cardinham, Cornwall. There were two intense 24-hour rainfall events on the 8/9th and 26/27th (see Figure 2) arising from Storm Goretti and Storm Chandra. It will therefore come as no surprise that sunshine hours were generally depressed throughout the month apart from the first week.

Figure 2: Daily Rainfall/Sunshine Hours Data (January 2026)

The past 7 years of monthly temperature data for January (2020 - 2026) are shown graphically in Figure 3. The mean monthly temperatures indicate that January 2026 was not especially cold and, indeed, was very average compared to the previous 6 years. Is there a decreasing trend in maximum monthly temperatures? Probably not! You never quite know what your going to get in January. Take 2022, for example: it had the most frost days (15) and yet its average monthly temperature was 2 ℃ above the norm for 2020 - 2026.

Figure 3: Time Series (2020 - 2026) of January Temperatures (Hereford City)

The 2020 - 2026 time series for monthly rainfall, sunshine hours and maximum wind speeds are shown in Figure 4. The standout feature here is that 2026 had the wettest January since my records began in 2020. We can also see that the amount of January rainfall is highly variable. As mentioned above, the weather in January can still be a mixed bag. Interestingly, sunshine hours have been fairly constant over the past 7 years despite the 4-5 fold variability in rainfall levels.

Figure 4: Time Series (2020 - 2026) of Monthly Rainfall, Sunshine Hours & Maximum Wind Speed (Hereford City)

The following three figures are taken from the UK Met Office's Monthly report for January 2026. Figure 5 shows the mean temperature anomaly (relative to the 1991 - 2020 average) for the United Kingdom. Southern England, including Herefordshire (circled), experienced a monthly mean temperature close to the long-term average while more northern and easterly climes were below average. According to our nearest Met Office weather station at Credenhill (about 4 miles away), the 1991 -2020 average temperature for this area is 4.7 ℃. The recorded mean of 5 ℃ from our garden weather station is, therefore, in good agreement.

Figure 5: UK Mean Temperature Anomalies (January 2026)

Figure 6 reports the January 2026 rainfall for the UK relative to the 1991 - 2020 long-term average. Southern England took the brunt of the wet weather thanks to the Storm Goretti and Storm Chandra, although parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland were strongly affected. Herefordshire experienced above average rainfall (150-200 %). This is in good agreement with my backyard weather station where January's rainfall (92 mm, Table 1) was 150% that of the expected value (62 mm average based on the last 7 years).

Figure 6: Relative UK Rainfall (January 2026)

Figure 7 shows the relative sunshine hours in the UK for January 2026. The far north of Scotland and much of the east coast had below average sunshine levels while the remainder of the UK had average or slightly above average sunshine hours. Typically, January sunshine hours in the Midlands are 50-55 hours; hence the 46 hours recorded by my weather station (Table 1) is on the low side (87% of the expected value) but not wildly so.

Figure 7: Relative UK Sunshine Hours (January 2026)

Jobs in the Garden

• A quiet month as the rain and cold are not conducive to gardening
• Harvesting spinach and celeriac from the garden plus some potatoes. Remaining beetroot in the ground suffered frost damage
• Continue hot composting at a low level
• Still using last year's red onion and garlic crops
• Eating aubergine, chilli and bell peppers, green beans, tomatoes, field beans, blackcurrants, gooseberries, redcurrants, apple, blackberries and raspberries.

Flora and Fauna in the Garden

• Blackbird (x1, male)
• Blackcap (x1, female)
• Blue Tit (x2)
• Collared Dove (x1)
• Crow (x2)
• Dunnock (x1)
• Great Tit (x1)
• House Sparrow (x10)
• Robin (x1)
• Starling (x9)
• Wood Pigeon (x2)
• Wren (x1)

For once, no extra photographs of the back garden apart from those taken in Video 1 plus the snowdrops reported here. It can be quiet at this time of the year!