Climate
As with the rest of the British Isles, Cape Wrath has an Oceanic (Köppen Cfb)—this is especially pronounced due to its western coastal location.
Its exposed northerly position can give rise to some exceptionally low winter sunshine levels: in January 1983 it recorded just 38 minutes of sunshine, a record low for Scotland. This exposed position, however, also means severe frost is unknown; when temperatures at Altnaharra or Kinbrace just 20 miles (30 km) or so inland are −20 °C (−4 °F) or below, the temperature at Cape Wrath is often hovering close to freezing. For example, on 30 December 1995, when Altnaharra dropped to −27 °C (−16.6 °F), the temperature at Cape Wrath fell to a mere −2.2 °C (28.0 °F). The record low of −6.9 °C (19.6 °F) is comparable to those recorded on Shetland, the Hebrides and even the Scilly Isles of England, in spite of Cape Wrath's mainland location. A slight fohn effect can also occur with the right angle of southerly winds, exemplified by the record December high of 17.7 °C (63.9 °F).
| Climate data for Cape Wrath, 112m asl, 1971-2000, Extremes 1960-2000 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 16.1 (61.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
17.8 (64.0) |
19.1 (66.4) |
24.4 (75.9) |
25.6 (78.1) |
26.0 (78.8) |
26.9 (80.4) |
23.9 (75.0) |
22.2 (72.0) |
16.0 (60.8) |
17.7 (63.9) |
26.9 (80.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6.5 (43.7) |
6.3 (43.3) |
6.9 (44.4) |
8.0 (46.4) |
10.8 (51.4) |
12.2 (54.0) |
14.2 (57.6) |
14.6 (58.3) |
12.9 (55.2) |
11.0 (51.8) |
8.5 (47.3) |
7.3 (45.1) |
9.93 (49.88) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 2.3 (36.1) |
2.2 (36.0) |
2.6 (36.7) |
3.8 (38.8) |
6.1 (43.0) |
8.0 (46.4) |
10.0 (50.0) |
10.5 (50.9) |
9.0 (48.2) |
7.0 (44.6) |
4.4 (39.9) |
3.1 (37.6) |
5.75 (42.35) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −6 (21) |
−6.9 (19.6) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−6 (21) |
−2 (28) |
1.6 (34.9) |
4.0 (39.2) |
4.1 (39.4) |
2.5 (36.5) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
−3 (27) |
−5.1 (22.8) |
−6.9 (19.6) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 131.5 (5.177) |
77.7 (3.059) |
101.49 (3.9957) |
62.87 (2.4752) |
55.43 (2.1823) |
70.49 (2.7752) |
82.91 (3.2642) |
100.44 (3.9543) |
139.62 (5.4969) |
138.28 (5.4441) |
160.95 (6.3366) |
138.31 (5.4453) |
1,259.99 (49.6059) |
| Source #1: YR.NO | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute/KNMI | |||||||||||||
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