How cold is Scotland in the winter?

I am from New York and I am wondering how cold it is in Scotland. It can snow 30-60cm in good years here, and it can get to -15C degrees at times. How cold is it in Scotland, like Edinburgh and St Andrews, compared to New York?

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Reply 1

Napp

Really depends where in Scotland you go, it can happily get to minus 15 or so in particularly cold years in places. But yeah it varies depending on year and location within Scotland.

Reply 2

popwoper

Original post by Ibex340

Scotland can be cold but new york is a lot colder in winter considering the average temperature in New York in winter during the day is below freezing ( -3 - -5 degrees). Where as in Scotland the average temperature appears to be about 2-3 degrees during the day.

At night it is obviously colder in New York and Scotland respectively.

Reply 3

Ibex340

Original post by Napp

Really depends where in Scotland you go, it can happily get to minus 15 or so in particularly cold years in places. But yeah it varies depending on year and location within Scotland.

Does it usually snow often in Edinburgh for example?

Reply 4

popwoper

Original post by Ibex340

Does it usually snow often in Edinburgh for example?

Not as much as New York.

Not the lower lands any way like Edinburgh Glasgow.

In the highlands it does appear to snow more than it does in New York.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 5

Scottishlad888

Its very cold right now in Scotland l am not far from St Andrews and just over 60 miles from Edinburgh its now 5 am in Scotland and its been raining now for 48 hours non stop in the north of Scotland Aberdeen /inverness the snow can be 10/15 feet deep in a bad winter you can goggle the scottish weather

Reply 6

A Rolling Stone

Original post by Ibex340

it very, very rarely gets below -3 (i only recall it being around that once when i was there at uni) and it doesn't really ever snow - that same year was the only year we had proper snow which my Indian mate who'd never seen snow before loved

Reply 7

black tea

Original post by Ibex340

Does it usually snow often in Edinburgh for example?

It doesn't snow very often in the UK in general.

Reply 8

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

@Quick-use might be able to advise on Edinburgh (and maybe elsewhere)?

Generally though I seriously doubt anywhere in the UK will be anywhere near as cold as upstate NY. Remember that the UK is a relatively small island, so has large areas of the country adjacent to the coast that is served by the Gulf stream, so the UK as a whole is considerably milder than most other locations on the same latitude. I used to live in (southern) Maine and it has never been anywhere near that cold or as much snow (even as a one off, much less regularly) in the all the years I've lived in the UK (admittedly I've only lived in the south of the UK, and Scotland is much further north!).

Snow isn't something that is regularly expected in the UK (except on mountains!) for a reference point, unlike in New England where you generally expect snow at least some of the winter. A caveat of this is though, even a small amount of snow here tends to pretty much shut down all infrastructure in the country :tongue:

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 9

Scottishlad888

Original post by A Rolling Stone

It does not really snow are you having a Laugh of course it snows l am born and bread in Scotland and l know full well how cold it gets the Government in london gives people extra money in the winter time to help them pay there gas and electric bills

Reply 10

black tea

Original post by Scottishlad888

Believe me, Scotland is a rather temperate climate in the grand scheme of things. And yes, it does not really snow that often.

Reply 11

Scottishlad888

Original post by black tea

Believe me, Scotland is a rather temperate climate in the grand scheme of things. And yes, it does not really snow that often.

Where l stay there has been snow on the hills for the past two months do you stay in Scotland ?

Reply 12

black tea

Original post by Scottishlad888

Where l stay there has been snow on the hills for the past two months do you stay in Scotland ?

Yes. No snow where I live.

Reply 13

max.portwood

Original post by Ibex340

Scotland is freezing but probs on par with a new york winter

Reply 14

ReadingMum

Edinburgh is cold and dry but doesn't get as cold as NY in the winter (or as warm in the summer generally). I lived in Edinburgh for a couple of years and we had a fair bit of snow - which does indeed bring everything to a standstill! I had the chance to relocate there but it was just too cold for too much of the year for me - I remember there being horizontal hail firing past my 4th floor office window on my birthday at the end of May once.
Glasgow on the west side is warmer and wetter as it is closer to the Gulf Stream.

Reply 15

scrubbucino

Edinburgh
Average January High: 7.0C
Average January Low: 1.4C
Record Low Temperature: -15.5C
New York
Average January High: 3.5C
Average January Low: -2.8C
Record Low Temperature: -26C

I think it's fair to say that New York is noticeably cooler than Edinburgh on average, as well as being prone to more extreme cold temperatures.

Reply 16

Drewski

Original post by Ibex340

Warmer. You'll notice it being wetter throughout, too.

Reply 17

Quick-use

It's mostly just wet and windy during winter (which it is all throughout the year but especially during this time). Snow is rare these days and although it can get below 10 degrees, hardly ever goes into the minus.

If you've experienced winter in New York, you should be cope really well with the temperature here. It's just going to be raining a lot with wind mixed in. The rain itself isn't even that heavy; just more of a nuisance considering how frequent it is.