“Another storm brewing; I hear it sing i’ th’ wind.” (The Tempest, 2.2.19-20)
According to the Met Office, 2025 was both the hottest and sunniest year on record and, as such, was a year of extreme weather events.
A combination of a sunnier spring and summer with below-average rainfall proved a challenge to the way we manage some of our gardens. Spring is a common time for new planting, with the ground warming up, and historically a time for steady rain, all of which helps to establish new planting quickly. Unfortunately, the lack of rain in 2025 meant that the gardens team had to balance the need for water to keep new plants alive, with the need to minimise water use wherever possible.
The warm, sunny weather lasted well into the autumn, meaning that some of our apple crops, which we use to make our cider and apple juice, were smaller than in previous years due to drought stress. It also meant the apples themselves were smaller and with a sharper taste than usual.
However, as autumn continued, the Midlands received more than the average rainfall for the season, a trend which continued into the winter. There was so much rain on 14th November 2025 that Shottery Brook burst its banks, meaning we had to close both Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and the Garden Café to visitors as Cottage Lane became impassable.
As we moved into January of 2026, Storm Goretti, which threatened plentiful amounts of snowfall across south Warwickshire, led to us closing all our sites for the day.
As we now head out of the winter, the gardens team, like many others, are wondering what the rest of 2026 will have in store for us weather wise, and how we will have to continue to adapt.
Keeping our sites open, safe and accessible to our staff, volunteers and visitors during the range of extreme weather events we are now seeing can be challenging but is a challenge we are determined to meet. As such, we are currently finalising our Extreme Weather Policy and Procedures, which provide a framework for dealing with everything from extreme heat to snow and ice.