Scotland Climate
City Coverage: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Inverness
This month in numbers
Scotland experienced its 11th warmest April on record, with an average temperature of 7.4°C, a significant 1.9°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. This continues a trend, as the February–April 2026 period also ranked as the 11th warmest on record, at 5.5°C, 1.8°C above average. Sunshine was also notable, with April 2026 ranking as the 6th sunniest April on record, providing 194 hours of sunshine, 58 hours more than average. The three-month period from February to April was the 9th sunniest on record, with 355 hours, 64 hours above average. Frost days were notably fewer, with April seeing 6 days of frost, 3 fewer than average, and the February–April period recording 23 frost days, 14 fewer than average. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April on record for land temperatures, with an anomaly of +1.1°C, and the February–April period also ranked as the 2nd warmest globally, with an anomaly of +1.2°C.
What changed
The past three months have seen Scotland experiencing significantly warmer and sunnier conditions compared to historical averages. The region's mean temperature for February–April 2026 was 1.8°C above the 1961–1990 baseline, placing it as the 11th warmest such period on record. This aligns with a broader trend, as 2025 was Scotland's warmest year on record, at 8.62°C. Scotland's April temperature anomaly of +1.88°C places it 115th out of 234 regions globally, while the three-month anomaly of +1.80°C ranks it 104th. This is in contrast to a striking pattern of warming observed across the US, where all of the top 10 warmest regions for both the latest month and the last three months were US states.
What’s driving change?
The warmer temperatures and reduced frost days in Scotland are influenced by , with winters warming faster at high latitudes. The () can play a role in steering winter storms, and a typically brings mild, wet westerlies to northern Europe. The current ENSO state is Neutral, with a weekly Niño 3.4 SST anomaly of +0.9°C, though an El Niño phase is forecast to become dominant from May-July 2026 onwards, which typically brings cooler conditions to Northern Europe during winter months. In early April, Storm Dave brought heavy snow and gale-force winds to northern parts of the UK, including Scotland, causing travel and power disruption, with up to 30 centimetres of snow falling in some areas. However, temperatures quickly rose after Easter Monday.
Looking ahead
The forecast for May 2026 suggests a transition to unsettled weather with low pressure dominating, bringing bands of rain interspersed with brighter, showery conditions.
Sources:
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
Loading climate data...
Data Sources
Data Sources for Scotland
Every figure on this page is sourced from official, openly published climate datasets. Anomalies are calculated against the 1961–1990 baseline (temperature) and 1991–2020 (rainfall, sunshine, frost) — see the Methodology & Sources page for the complete dataset list and update calendar.
FAQs
FAQs
How is the climate in Scotland changing?
Scotland is warming in line with the rest of the world. The page above shows the latest monthly temperature anomaly versus the 1961-1990 baseline, the long-term annual trend, and the region's rank in the historical record. The trend rate is shown as °C per decade in the headline panel; you can also see the warmest and coolest years on file.
Where does the climate data for Scotland come from?
Climate data for Scotland comes from the UK Met Office HadUK-Grid (temperature, rainfall, sunshine, air frost), refreshed every month, when the upstream temperature and rainfall data are refreshed.
What is the climate baseline used on this page?
Anomalies on this page are calculated against the 1961-1990 climatological baseline, which is the standard reference period used by the Met Office, NOAA, IPCC and most national climate services. Some panels also show the source-native 1901-2000 (NOAA) or 1991-2020 (WMO) baselines for verification. See Methodology & Sources for the full reference.
Which areas does the Scotland climate data cover?
The Scotland climate profile covers Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and surrounding areas. Wind energy leader with distinct climate targets
How often is the Scotland climate update refreshed?
The Scotland climate update is refreshed monthly, typically a few days after the previous month closes and the upstream provider (Met Office HadUK-Grid, NOAA Climate at a Glance, Copernicus ERA5 or the Global Carbon Project) publishes its update. See the Climate Rankings for cross-region comparisons.