Scotland Climate
City Coverage: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Inverness
This month in numbers
Scotland experienced a significantly warmer than average spring, with the March-May 2026 period ranking as the 8th warmest on record for mean temperature, at 7.47°C, a notable 1.7°C above the 1961–1990 baseline. Sunshine hours for the same three-month period were also exceptionally high, ranking 9th of 117 years on record, with 470 hours, 78 hours above average. Globally, April 2026 was the 2nd warmest April on record for land temperature, at 14.96°C, an anomaly of +1.1°C. The three-month global land temperature from February-April 2026 also ranked as the 2nd warmest on record.
What changed
While May 2026 itself was warmer than average, ranking 29th for mean temperature, the standout trend for Scotland was the consistently warm and sunny spring. This region's mean temperature anomaly of +1.7°C for March-May 2026 was higher than the UK national average for February-April 2026 (+1.8°C) and March 2026 (+2.4°C), indicating a particularly warm spell for Scotland. Scotland was 122nd of 234 regions globally for its 3-month temperature anomaly.
What’s driving change?
The warmer conditions in Scotland are part of a broader global warming trend, with the past year, 2025, being the warmest on record for Scotland. The current ENSO state is Neutral, but a transition to El Niño is strongly forecast, with an 82% chance for May-Jul and increasing to 98% by August-October. While El Niño's direct impact on the UK is complex, strong El Niño events have historically been linked to milder and wetter winters across parts of northern Europe, including the UK, and can contribute to a greater risk of unusual weather conditions, including unseasonably warm spells and heavy rainfall. This is due to changes in atmospheric circulation and jet stream shifts.
Looking ahead
The strong forecast for El Niño development in the coming months suggests a potential for continued unusual weather patterns, with a tendency for warmer global temperatures and an increased chance of weather extremes for the UK.
Generated by Gemini from climate data and web sources
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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.