The rain in Spain…

While our customers and relatives in the UK and other parts of Northern Europe have been enjoying a particularly dry and sunny spell of weather, here in Madrid things have been usually wet.

In fact, Spain’s meteorological agency, AEMET, has now reported that March 2025 was the third wettest March on record, with accumulated rainfall of 149mm. It was also the fifth coldest March this century.   

The Puerto de Navacerrada in the Sierra de Guadarrama mountains to the north of Madrid received a record 588m of precipitation over the month, amazing news for skiers.  In fact, snow could still be seen on many peaks across Spain well into April.

However, Spain is a very large place, and although the Spanish peninsula received more than double the average rainfall for the month, the Canary Islands received much nearer to the average amount, and some parts of inland Galicia were actually drier than usual.

Of course, rain over the winter and early spring is generally good news.  The vines are in their dormant period and the water helps replenish groundwater reserves. Now in May, reservoir levels are at over 90% capacity in Madrid, Rioja and other parts of Spain.

However, in Murcia, which has been battling severe drought over several years, the reservoirs are still at 36%.  And growers in DO Jumilla have recently been hit by another issue, a severe hailstorm on the 8 May that decimated vines and other crops around Lorca.

And that brings us to the drawbacks of heavy rain.  Now the vines have started to bud, unstable conditions and heavy rain can affect flowering and fruit-set, leading to reduced yields, as well as the risk of fungal diseases.

After a damp Easter, the weather continues to be wet and windy, in fact we haven’t seen a dry week since the start of March.  And now, in May, storms are still forecast as the Omega blocking system that is bringing high pressure to the UK remains in place, bringing wetter conditions to countries on the periphery.

Although harvest is some way away, it looks like the challenge of the 2025 vintage will be due to rain in Spain rather than the lack of it!

We’ll keep you posted with the developments of the 2025 vintage across Spain.