People from outside the UK (and sometimes just outside Scotland)
don't believe me when I say we only get about 1 good summer per decade.

And I can list the ones I remember too:

1976
1983
1995
2006

And that's it.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 9:09, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

bloody hell
I've only really experienced 1 decent summer in my life in scotland then! I wasn't born for the first one, was only a few months old for the second, and had moved down south by the time of the 4th!
I do rememeber a few decent summers as a child/teenager though - surely those 4 are only exceptional ones?
( ascorbate, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 9:14, Reply)

Yes, they were exceptional
insofar as they all had several weeks of good weather. Other 'good' summers have had perhaps two or three warm, rain-free weeks!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 9:47, Reply)

thesedays
i accept that the summer is over by mid june. i always take my holidays in late april or may. then i get my waterproofs out and bunker down for 'the summer'. I have been coming into work for the past week or so, with a bloody ski-jacket on.

the thing is though, when it IS nice up here, it is simply perfect. Always a superb mix of warmth and breeze. When i go to foreign climes i end up being a sweaty, chaffed mess.
(Cancer Joy was short lived, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 9:19, Reply)

however
when it is nice, it's exam season for some reason. I always remember the weather being stunning whilst I was stuck indoors sitting exams. from standard grades up to uni finals, always gorgeous weather over the exams.

I like the description of Scottish summertime I once read - it's when you take off one of your layers of jumpers, and your umbrella gets a tan.
( ascorbate, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 9:49, Reply)

last year
we hired a brilliant cottage beside Eilan Donan Castle, and we done the whole Skye thing etc. We also went to Applecross, up and over 'the pass of the cattle', which is the highest, driveable, moutain pass in the UK. You could have been in Austria or Switzerland, it was stunning AND it was extremely sunny and lovely. When we got to the top there was several feet of snow still lying, lovely white, virgin snow. The kids then changed into their sallopettes and wellies, which we kept in the car, and proceeded to build snowmen and lark about in this wonderful snow while the sun shone unrelentingly. It was absolutely superb.

The down on into Applecross and the temperature was up towards 25c, one excellent pub lunch later and i didn't want to leave. But over the course there are infinitely more shitty days than there are good ones, you just have to make the most of them when they happen.



edited for pictorial evidence of scotlands ability to be incredible
(Cancer Joy was short lived, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 10:16, Reply)

I
went to Skye for a climbing trip a few years ago (2007 maybe?). we stayed with family in a rented cottage on Loch Linnhe on the way, and it was absolutely torrential rain, freezing cold, bitter weather for the first few days. We were almost washed down the road on Skye, and had to stop and wait for the rain to calm down, it was so strong. Then after 3 days on skye, the clouds cleared, and we all ended up badly sunburnt after 4 days of walking and climbing.

that's just how it is in Scotland, isn't it?! I love it :-)
( ascorbate, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 10:23, Reply)

sounds great
I'm planning to go to the Hebrides next year for a holiday. Probably in May.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 10:25, Reply)

may is the best time to go
it is exam season after all. but also, it's generally pre-midge season, which is the absolute worst thing about scottish summer.
you sit outside under umbrellas, around a soggy bonfire, getting eaten alive by midges, and looking at the mist. that's what most of my family holidays were like as a child, and my parents can't understand why we're reluctant to book a holiday with them next summer with our baby... :-)
( ascorbate, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 10:33, Reply)

I feel your pain
I've been waiting since the beginning of August for a decent, dry weekend. Fucks sake, all I want to do is get out of the city for two days and get gently monged surrounded by nature. It's not asking for much, but I've pretty much given up til next year. I don't know what it's like where you are, but it's fucking baltic here (although not *actively* raining right now, but it's forecast to later)

Your last year trip sounds lovely. I might steal it for future use..
(berk, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 10:26, Reply)

Nice pic
Looks like a car advert!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 10:52, Reply)

or a Top Gear photoshoot,
i got some superb pictures that day. When the rain is lashing down, i sometimes get them out and wank myself silly whilst weeping quietly.



*checks weather, reaches for photos and kleenex*
(Cancer Joy was short lived, Fri 4 Sep 2009, 10:57, Reply)