SGScot: Geography and climate

Scotland is divided into the Highlands, Lowlands, Speyside and Islay.

No, wait, that’s just the whisky.

Okay, try this: Scotland is divided into Highlands (north), Lowlands (south), west and east coast (you can probably interpret that yourself), and a bunch of islands. Not so much divided, really, but those are the regions people tend to refer to. We toured much of the Highlands, sticking to the east coast and a bit of the north. The main cities are Edinburgh (south; kultcha!), Glasgow (west coast; shopping!), Aberdeen and Inverness (east coast; um… Scottish!). By all accounts Edinburgh is terribly pretty and Glasgow a bit rough. But I’m sure that’s just nasty talk.

As for climate, I was warned darkly “you’re on the same latitude as Alaska”. So: brrrr! Summer, apparently, lasts from the beginning to the end of July. Although it won’t necessarily be anything South Africans might recognise as summer. Then the rains come. And believe me, they come. More things I should have found out before I chose to visit in August: September and October are actually better weather, in the sense that they are drier. And you get lovely autumn foliage later on. Winter is of course proper winter, with snow and stuff. Again: brrrr!

But before you complain about the cold, consider: without this urgent imperative to warm up, would we have Scotch whisky?