Scotland Holidays and Climate

Public holidays

There are a number of public holidays that do not have a fixed date, but are based on the time of Easter. Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the beginning of spring. Lent, which lasts 46 days, begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. Pentecost is 50 days after Easter. The Corpus Christi festival is celebrated on the 2nd Thursday after Pentecost. All Saints’ Day is celebrated for Orthodox Christians on the 1st Sunday after Pentecost, but for Catholic Christians the date is fixed on November 1st. On October 31, Protestants celebrate Reformation Day. The Halloween festival also takes place on this day.

In Scotland, as in the rest of Great Britain, there are the so-called “Bank Holidays” which were first introduced in 1871 by the “Bank Holidays Act”. In general, today’s Bank Holidays are set for New Years Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day, the last Monday in May, the last Monday in August and the Christmas holidays from December 25th to 26th.

• January 1st New Year’s Day (Hogmanay) **
• January 2nd Ney Year’s Bank Holiday
• January 25th Burns Day/Night Birthday of Robert Burns
• March/April Good Friday Good Friday
• 1st Monday in May May Day May Day
• Last Monday in May Spring Bank Holiday/Victoria Day Queen Victoria’s Birthday
• 1st Monday in August Summer Bank Holiday/Trade Holiday Local Holiday
• Last Monday in September Trade Holiday Local Holiday
• December 25th Christmas Day Christmas Day
• December 26th Boxing Day Boxing Day
• December 31, New Year’s Eve (Hogmanay) **

Hogmanay **
Hogmanay is one of the most important Scottish festivals and is celebrated from the evening of December 31st until the early hours of January 1st.

Note
On January 25th, Burns Day and December 31st, New Year’s Eve, the Scot has no day off. Because a public holiday does not always mean time off work for the Scotsman, even if this is so common in many commercial sectors and especially in administration.
You can also work on public holidays. If the 25th or 26th December and the 1st or 2nd January fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the holidays will be made up for on the next regular working day.
January 3rd and 4th are public holidays, but with normal business hours.

Scotland: climate

The British Isles usually have a mild climate throughout the year. Deep foothills that come from the Atlantic ensure that temperatures in Great Britain usually do not rise above 32 °C or fall below -10 °C. The rainiest months are generally the winter months of January and February, but this also depends very much on regional conditions. The heaviest rains are in the west of the country and in the Scottish Highlands. The Scottish weather is truly not Mediterranean. It’s changeable, the temperatures are rather cool and the winds are mostly stormy. Scottish weather phenomena include the constant drizzle called “drizzle”, persistent fog and the “hair”, a haze drawn in from the sea.

Travel times

The fact that the Scottish climate is so consistently mild means that you can travel to the country without any problems at any time of the year. However, the idea of ​​what is meant by a particularly favorable travel climate depends on various factors. Pure cultural travelers certainly see the climate differently than people planning a beach holiday. Health status and age can also play a role in the experience of the climate.

For winter sports
enthusiasts The Cairngorm Mountains in north-east Scotland are Britain’s most popular ski area. The ski area with a total of 28 slopes can also be explored with chairlifts at an altitude of up to 1,300 m.

Climate table

The following table shows climate data for Great Britain. It should be noted that the climatic conditions in different regions of the country can differ from each other and thus also from the values ​​shown. In addition, the monthly temperature averages have little informative value with regard to the minimum or maximum temperatures. It is possible that at average temperatures of around 20 ° C maximum values ​​of 30 °C or more occur. The table therefore only provides a general overview of the climatic conditions in Great Britain.

Hebrides, Western Isles

Western Isles is the umbrella term for the Inner and Outer Hebrides of Scotland, which are of volcanic origin. The islands have been inhabited for 6,000 years and offer wonderful natural monuments, numerous waterways and wonderfully wide sandy beaches. Gaelic is still spoken on the islands today.

Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides are west of the Inner Hebrides and around 60 km west of the Scottish mainland. They extend in an arc with a length of about 210 km from the Butt of Lewis in the north to Barra Head in the south. From the southeast lying Inner Hebrides they are separated by the straits Little Minch and North Minch.
The ten largest islands in the Outer Hebrides are:
– Barra with an area of ​​58.8 km²
– Benbecula with an area of ​​82 km²
– Berneray with an area of ​​10.1 km²
– Eriskay with an area of ​​7 km²
– Great Bernera with a Area of ​​21.2 km²
– Grimsay with an area of ​​8.3 km²
– Lewis and Harris with an area of ​​2,179 km²
– North Uist with an area of ​​303 km²
– South Uist with an area of ​​320.3 km²
– Taransay with an area of ​​14.8 km²

Inner Hebrides
The Isle of Skye is the largest island in the Inner Hebrides with an area of ​​1,656 km² and is accessible via a car bridge. The island served Bonnie Prince Charlie as a refuge in the mid-18th century after his unsuccessful attempt to claim the English crown.
In addition to Skye, the Inner Hebrides consist of the following larger islands:
– Ascrib Islands
– Crowlin Islands
– Isay
– Longay
– Pabay
– Rona
– Raasay
– Scalpay
– Soay
– Trodday
– Wiay

A special feature is the local “Hebridean Whale Trail” with its 25 whale watching sites, including the 105 km² island of Rum with the 810 m high, extinct volcano Askival. 24 species of whales and dolphins can be seen in the waters of the Hebrides, including humpback whales, porpoises and orcas.

Land of whiskey

General information
Whiskey fans especially rave about the Scottish whiskey. Incidentally, whiskey is written in the USA and Ireland. Whisk (e) y is an alcoholic drink obtained from grain as well as fermentation (= fermentation) and distillation. Apart from Canadian whiskey, it consists of 100% grain), i.e. mainly barley, rye or corn. The name is derived from the Gaelic term Ushkebar and means water of life. The use of the term whisk (e) y is attested for the first time in the 16th century.