It's strange, this West of Scotland Weather

Since I was a little lad, tramping over the Rannoch moor from Glen Nevis Youth hostel or climbing the Cioch in the Skye Cuillins, it has never, ever been drier than in the past few months. 1929 was the last time it was so sunny for this long. Sunny, warm, Scotland? Pah! No one would believe it, well not with gales lashing outside as they did last week.

JULY, THE THUNDERSTORM MONTH, BUT NOT HERE.

July is usually wet, everywhere, not only in Scotland. It is thunderstorms that do the damage. But there are far more thunderstorms in the East of Scotland than there are in the West. If you have brontophobia, a fear of thunder, then the best place for you is on the Islands off our West Coast of Scotland. The bombs go off in warm air, and that is more to the east. The warm air detonates the cold air coming in.

So be thankful for these gusts of rain and wind we are getting. Not only do the gardens need it, not to say the water supplies, but it also helps to push the thunderstorms over to Fife. Poor them. Tough. 

Be sorry for Mull. Many of the water supplies there are private, and all are suffering. It usually just drains off the hill streams straight into the houses. But not last month. One hotel owner has had to go to Oban to buy bottled water. And tankers carrying 80,000 gallons of water have been sent to Tobermory.

Scotland is a strange place for weather, truly.

John

Pretty cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands
Cottage holidays Scotland in the Autumn, Winter, Spring
B&Bs and hotels in the West of Scotland
Travellers in the highlands of Scotland
Holiday cottages on the web
Glencoe photographs
Appin, Scotland
Walks around Glencoe
Hill walks in Lochaber
Ben Nevis one day?
Munroes around here

Amazing weather in Glencoe - right now

Picture shows the Pap of Glencoe from the Kentallen road. Isn't the whole place stunning?

Here is the most amazing thing. Right now, the UK news bulletins are full of horror stories involving cold weather, deep snow in the East of Scotland, cars benighted, emergency services at full stretch, and worse to come. The worst snowfalls in the UK for 20 years they say!

What have we got in our little micro climate at Kentallen? Well, nothing but peace and calm. And we have quite high temperatures.

I've just looked up the weather station report from Mark our neighbour. This is what it says:

Dry, wind wnw force 1, no gusts humidity 55% (quite low). Temperature 6.9C no windchill at Kentallen cottage on 2/2/09 at 20.55.

It is very very much warmer here on the Scottish West Coast than on the East. It is the Gulf Stream and all that which does it.

Here at Kentallen, we have a different climate from Glencoe itself, because Glencoe, although it is just around the corner, is just over the hill. A 3,000 foot hill. And our climate in Kentallen is different again from that on Rannoch Moor. Now the Rannoch plain is one where you definitely do not want to be stuck overnight. Not unless you have a duvet sleeping bag, plenty of spare clothes, and a hot thermos. They'll get you out ok, but you want to be warm and still breathing when they do.

But here at Kentallen, all is peaceful bliss. Snow on the hills of course, brilliant skiing both at the Glencoe centre and at Nevis range. Brilliant high level walks.

By the way our cottage this month costs only £290 for the week. That is half the standard price

John
ps We can sometimes, very occasionally, get horizontal rain driven with the force of an AK47. Oh, very occasionally, of course. "A wee bit damp" they say.
pps. Here is a link to a page which gives you all the weather information, month by month for the region. Weather month by month in the area

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland
Skiing in Glencoe
New website to help find holiday accommodation in the West Coast, Oban and Fort William areas
Tourist and visitor information, this is the biggest Glencoe information site, hotel and cottage accommodation
Events in Glencoe Appin Lochaber Oban and Ballachulish
Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct
Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet
Cut the costs of your holidays
Cheap travel in scotland
Scotlands weather misconceptions
Rain in scotland
Summer weather in Scotland
Autumn weather in Scotland
Winter weather in Scotland
Spring weather in Scotland
Facts about self catering holidays
Advice on driving in Scotland
The Demand A82 upgrade campaign site

We have early December available for a short break in Glencoe

Most e-mails we get are lovely, none are nasty, but some are exceptionally kind. Thanks, Phil, we did appreciate it.
For December, click on the heading to this blog and you will go through to the web site.
John

John/Gillian
What can I say but thanks? Sounds a little understated for having had such a fabulous week.
Cottage was lovely, everything you could ask for and in such a beautiful setting.
Weather was good, dry in the main, warm on occasions, odd shower and only one grey miserable day, but hey, when you are up there it really doesn't matter.

Found the Holly Tree to be lovely - good food, good atmosphere, friendly staff. Cafe at Stalker castle, just shaded it for the coffee and carrot cake in my book.

Week went so quick, needed anyother two at least to do what we wanted to do and we did plenty as it is. Had no problems all week, it really was superb By all means you can use the comments. I could have gone on for pages about it.

From as far back as I can recall, whilst I love holidays and travelling abroad, it is always nice to get back home. On this occasion, it felt like we were leaving a home. We've never felt so relaxed, comfortable and happy anywhere.

Perhaps it's released the deep hidden scottish/irish genes within me!!

Take care. Hope you are both okay

Many thanks and best wishes and you may not have heard the last of us......

Phil

Here are some useful links for you.
New website to help find holiday accommodation in the West Coast, Oban and Fort William areas

Last minute, short breaks, in Scotland, owners sites direct

Tourist and visitor information, this is the biggest Glencoe information site, hotel and cottage accommodation


Events in Glencoe Appin Lochaber Oban and Ballachulish

Find the best Scottish holiday cottages on the internet


Cut the costs of your holidays


Cheap travel in scotland


Scotlands weather misconceptions


Rain in scotland

Summer weather in Scotland

Autumn weather in Scotland

Winter weather in Scotland

Spring weather in Scotland

Facts about self catering holidays

Advice on driving in Scotland

The pic is of Morar sands. Why? No reason. I just liked it from the file. Why not? Its my blog. Sorry, dear, our blog.

We have a lovely couple from the USA staying in the cottage. He is a Campbell and goes back to the days of Angus Og, and his lovely wife calls herself Pokey Sue always sends us e-mails of what they are up to. This is part of her latest e-mail. They are staying for a month.

They already know the area well, used to live in Benderloch.

Hi, John, we are just attempting the low level walks due to the snow level (and if truth be told, our rather substandard level of fitness at the moment!). If it gets bad, it's certainly easy enough to simply turn back and return to the coziness of the cottage.

The central location is great. We have been in Glencoe for small, medium and longer hikes (once up the Devils Staircase) weather permitting. This morning we were back in Glencoe Valley with friends who have a six year old, and simply drove the valley to see the view - after last night's storm it was spectacular - and then went over to the Visitor's Centre and took a low level hike out the back door and up the forestry road with especially clear views of the Pap of Glencoe. By lunchtime we were grabbing a couple of pizzas (great for fitness!) at the Co-op in Ballachulish and back at the cottage to eat and watch the latest storm flying across Kentallen Bay.

Late in the day I decided to explore the disused railway track which we had been observing while driving the road to and from the cottage. A considerable amount of work is going into making this a bike and walking path. At least we hope its for walkers too! I set out in the sunshine and only about a quarter of a mile down the road was met by a wild squall of a hail, sleet and windstorm that blew me into the Holly Tree Hotel dripping wet and wondering why my Maine gloves didn't seem to be working.

Reception was very welcoming and I proceeded into the non-resident bar where another friendly person fixed me a very large pot of tea. I drank this overlooking the amazing view of Loch Linnhe from their huge windows. The storm blew over and I walked back along the track to the cottage with glorious views and sunshine. As it turned out, I barely made it back. Within minutes after turning the key, another wall of freezing water appeared and obliterated everything.

Pokey Sue.

I'll post more later... meanwhile we are interested in getting the A82 road upgraded....

The A82 upgrade campaign website
The A82 tragedies, and accidents. This is our new blog site about it.

Don't leave your car keys on the top of the Pap of Glencoe

This is the view from the top of the Pap of Glencoe at Midnight in the Summer. Our good friends and neighbours Chris and Fiona Hall climbed up to the top of it the other day. This is their story.

Hi, John
We're just packing up to go home now.The weather here was glorious yesterday so Fiona and I did the Pap of Glencoe (2500ft). As we got down near the bottom I discovered I'd lost my jacket - with the car keys in it. So I had to go all the way to the top again! There cannot be many people who have climbed the Pap twice in one afternoon!!

How long was the round trip Chris?

From the gate at the road to the top took us 1h40. The descent was a little under an hour.
The complete double trip took exacty 5 hours, invloved 4300ft of climbing (and descent) and was just over 6 miles in distance. I've got a Garmin GPS so know all the facts and figures!
However, on the second trip I was really motoring and virtually ran (jogged) most of the way down as it was gettting near sunset.
I think a comfortable time for average walkers would be around 3 hours for a normal round trip.
By all means relate the story in your blog. The lesson to be learned is to keep the car keys safely in a rucksack or trouser pocket! I would have happily left my jacket on the top - but the car-keys were another matter. :)
Cheers

Lochside cottage near Glencoe in the Highlands of Scotland

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excellent Scottish holiday properties offering short breaks and special prices

Three feet of rain per second. We loved it.

Youngsters only care about rain, cold and snow if the parents make a fuss. This wonderful family just gets out there and does it. They stayed at the cottage last week.

HI John and Gillian,
Thanks for having us at Bayview. We had a great week. The whole place is stunning and the cottage was perfect for us. All the little ones enjoyed being there.

We had one glorious sunny day and walked the old road through Glencoe (with buggy and baby rucksack!) Phenomenal views. The last 2 days were snowing heavily, which made doing things tricky, but one of the snowy days we walked (unbelievably the three year olds did walk themselves) up to the first waterfall up Glen Nevis path.

The next day was difficult to do anything, but when the clouds cleared (for about 10 seconds at a time) the views of snow covered tops were breathtaking. In between times it followed the traditional three feet of rain per second, so we did some the other things you suggested eg sealife centre (great for our kids), Ice
climbing at Kinlochleven (hard work!) but good play area for the kids at both.

We had a great time, thanks.
With best wishes
Damian, Barbara, Elizabeth, Catherine and Ruth

That story takes us back to our own family - quite a few years back, it must be said. You can see the details of where they went on the following pages

http://bayviewkentallen.co.uk main site

http://www.bayviewkentallen.co.uk/glencoewalks.html

http://www.bayviewkentallen.co.uk/trackwaysfromglencoe.html

http://www.bayviewkentallen.co.uk/wildlifeglencoe.html

John