The Llysdinam Gardens in Newbridge on Wye has this week celebrated its recognition as a ‘Centennial Observing Station’.

The site, part of the Met Office’s climate network, joins a global network of sites that have been recognised by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) for recording weather observations for over 100 years.

Jon Taylor, the Met Office Associate Director of Observations, presented the plaque, and BBC weather presenter Sue Charles was there to see it happen.

This station owes much of its history and longevity to the dedication of one family and its support for the sciences. Sir Charles Venables Llewelyn started recording maximum/minimum temperature and rainfall data in the 1880s, and the Llewelyn family has continued to support the collection of meteorological data ever since.

Data was collected by family members and garden staff until the Llysdinam Field Centre was established in the 1970s, at which point students from Cardiff University took over the record keeping.

In 1988 it was upgraded to a climatological site, with soil temperatures, wet and dry bulbs and climatic descriptions recorded.

Monthly records were then sent to the Met Office.

In 2010 the site went automatic with data transported electronically throughout the day. Llysdinam recorded the coldest November day in the UK in 2010 with -18°C.

However, it also recorded -26°C in 1982, equalling the lowest temperature record for England at Newport, Shropshire that day.

Adam Barber, the Met Office’s Climate Network Manager, said: “The Met Office has a long history of collecting weather data, including working with volunteers.

"Through the lenses of our network of weather observing sites, we are able to build a great understanding of the UK’s changing climate and record some notable weather events.

"All of these sites are building valuable memories of weather.”

All data reported by this site are stored in a permanent archive, providing robust and reliable observations that are vital to climate science.

Understanding shifts in global weather and climate patterns needs long-standing meteorological observations and records.

Without the individuals who, over the years, have cared for this site and submitted observations every day, the irreplaceable record of the UK’s climate would not have survived.

The site is provided with equipment that is calibrated, installed and inspected by the Met Office.

The weather station is situated at the heart of Llysdinam Gardens, which is run by the Llysdinam Charitable Trust.

The gardens are especially noted for a magnificent display of Rhododendrons and Azaleas in May.

Covering some six acres in all, they command sweeping views down the Wye Valley.

Successive family members have developed the gardens over the last 150 years to include woodland with specimen trees, large herbaceous and shrub borders and a water garden, all of which provide varied and colourful planting throughout the year.

The Victorian walled kitchen garden and extensive greenhouses grow a wide variety of vegetables, hothouse fruit and exotic plants.