How do you like them apples... huge amount of fruit on trees in gardens and orchards

We had the ideal conditions for apple-growing this year — and scroll down for recipes for apple tart or mulled apple and whiskey

Spring 2025 was the warmest in over 120 years and the sunniest ever recorded here. Temperatures were more than 2°C above the long-term average and it was the driest spring since 2020. These conditions created a very favourable environment for apples. 

In a season of bountiful harvests, everything also seems to have come right for the apple crop, as can be seen from the huge amount of fruit on drooping boughs in orchards.

Brilliant spring weather created ideal conditions for apple-growing, says Dr Alberto Ramos Luz, research officer with the food and farming body, Teagasc, in Oakpark, Carlow.