Scotland's Climate & Weather
So what can people expect when visiting Scotland climate-wise? Scotland’s climate is temperate oceanic. This means that Scotland has a shorter range of temperature, and is generally cool and wet. Scotland has mild winters as well as mild summers and is unlikely to experience extreme weather events. Other regions with temperature oceanic climates include New Zealand, the rest of the UK, northern Europe, and parts of Canada, the US and South America.
Scotland does not have a dry season or a wet season, instead, rainfall is fairly consistent across the year, with some months wetter than others. Unlike some other countries on the same latitude, Scotland has a narrow annual temperature range. In our warmest months, our average temperature sits around 18°C (around 64°F), and in our coldest months, it’s around 0°C (around 32°F).
Scotland is often at the mercy of the low-pressure systems coming in from the Atlantic ocean. This means it’s generally cloudier, rainier, and windier than in England. But what about sunshine hours? When thinking of Scotland we imagine you’ll be picturing moody skies and dark clouds. This is definitely an element of Scottish weather, but not the entire picture. Due to its northern latitude, Scotland enjoys long summers days. At the height of summer, Scotland can have over 18 hours of daylight! On average, Scotland experiences 1,186 hours of sunshine annually.
