Climate - Inverness (Scotland)

The climate of Inverness is oceanic, with cold, rainy winters and cool, cloudy summers. The wind often blows, and can sometimes be stormy, especially in the colder half of the year.
The city is located on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, in the Beauly Firth, the bay that receives the waters of the Beauly and Ness rivers. The latter is the Loch Ness emissary.
The average temperature of the coldest month (January) is of 4 °C (39 °F), that of the warmest month (July) is of 15.2 °C (59 °F). Here are the average temperatures.

Precipitation amounts to 735 millimeters (28.9 inches) per year: so, it is at an intermediate level. It ranges from 40 mm (1.6 in) in the driest month (April) to 80 mm (3.1 in) in the wettest (October). In the least rainy period, from April to July, it still rains for 9/11 days a month. Here is the average precipitation.

Winter, from December to February, is quite cold: temperatures are not so low, but wind and humidity can increase the sensation of cold. The sky is often cloudy, and rainfall is frequent. Sometimes, intense Atlantic depressions can cause wind storms.
Snowfalls are quite rare, and generally not abundant. However, the season in which snow can fall is long, and runs from November to April.
From time to time, there can be cold spells, but generally they don't last long. On the coldest nights of the year, the temperature typically drops to -7/-8 °C (18/19 °F), but can sometimes drop even lower. At the airport, the temperature reached -15 °C (5 °F) in February 1978, -13.5 °C (7.5 °F) in January 1982, -15 °C (5 °F) in January 1987, -17 °C (1.5 °F) in December 1995, and -14 °C (7 °F) in November 2010.

In spring, from March to May, the temperature slowly rises, and Atlantic fronts become a bit less frequent. In May, it is often still quite cold.

Summer, from June to August, is cool, with quite frequent rains.
However, quite rarely, there may be periods, usually short-lived, with sunny weather and pleasantly warm temperatures. On the warmest days of the year, the temperature typically reaches 25/26 °C (77/79 °F), though it can sometimes reach higher values. The temperature reached 29 °C (84 °F) in July 1995 and in July 2003, 29 °C (84 °F) in June 2018, and 30 °C (86 °F) in July 2018 and in July 2019.

Autumn, from September to November, is gray, cloudy and rainy, and with each passing week, it gets progressively colder. In November, the wind is often moderate or strong.



On average, there are around 1,220 sunshine hours per year. So, the sun doesn't shine often. Here are the average sunshine hours per day.

Given the latitude of Inverness (57°29'N), the length of the days varies greatly between the different months of the year.
On the shortest day of the year, December 21st, the sun rises at 8:57 am and sets at 3:33 pm. A month later, on January 20, it rises at 8:40 am and sets at 4:15 pm. In mid-February, it rises at 7:47 am and sets at 5:15 pm.
In spring, the days become longer: already in April, the sun sets after 8 pm, and approximately from May 23 to July 20, the "white nights" occur, that is, it never becomes completely dark. On June 21, the longest day of the year, the sun rises at 4:18 am and sets at 10:19 pm.
In autumn, the days rapidly shorten: the sun sets at about 7:30 pm in mid-September, at about 6:05 pm in mid-October, and at about 4 pm in mid-November.

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The sea, which for the latitude is not very cold in winter, remains cold in summer: at most, the water temperature reaches 13/14 °C (55/57 °F) from July to September. Here are the average sea temperatures.

Best Time

The best time to visit Inverness is the summer, from June to August, since it is the mildest season. However, there are often cloudy skies, wind, rain and a bit of cold at night.