Summer Weather in Orkney United Kingdom

Daily high temperatures increase by 4°F, from 55°F to 59°F, rarely falling below 50°F or exceeding 66°F. The highest daily average high temperature is 61°F on August 5.

Daily low temperatures increase by 5°F, from 45°F to 50°F, rarely falling below 40°F or exceeding 55°F. The highest daily average low temperature is 52°F on August 5.

For reference, on August 5, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Orkney typically range from 52°F to 61°F, while on February 17, the coldest day of the year, they range from 36°F to 43°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average summer temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Metlakatla, Alaska, United States (4,061 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Orkney (view comparison).

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The summer in Orkney experiences gradually increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 54% to 59%.

The clearest day of the summer is June 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 46% of the time.

For reference, on February 3, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 70%, while on May 29, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 46%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Orkney, the chance of a wet day over the course of the summer is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 25% and ending it at 35%.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 49% on January 4, and its lowest chance is 24% on May 17.

Rainfall

To show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the summer in Orkney is increasing, starting the season at 1.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 3.0 inches or falls below 0.6 inches, and ending the season at 2.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.1 inches or falls below 1.2 inches.

Over the course of the summer in Orkney, the length of the day is very rapidly decreasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day decreases by 3 hours, 54 minutes, implying an average daily decrease of 2 minutes, 34 seconds, and weekly decrease of 18 minutes, 1 second.

The shortest day of the summer is August 31, with 14 hours, 6 minutes of daylight and the longest day is June 20, with 18 hours, 30 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the summer in Orkney is 3:58 AM on June 18 and the latest sunrise is 2 hours, 10 minutes later at 6:08 AM on August 31.

The latest sunset is 10:28 PM on June 23 and the earliest sunset is 2 hours, 14 minutes earlier at 8:14 PM on August 31.

Daylight saving time is observed in Orkney during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during the summer, so the entire season is in daylight saving time.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 3:58 AM and sets 18 hours, 30 minutes later, at 10:28 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 9:04 AM and sets 6 hours, 11 minutes later, at 3:15 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the summer of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Orkney is essentially constant during the summer, remaining around 0% throughout.

For reference, on July 13, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time, while on January 1, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Orkney is increasing during the summer, increasing from 13.9 miles per hour to 15.6 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on January 24, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 22.5 miles per hour, while on July 12, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 12.9 miles per hour.

The lowest daily average wind speed during the summer is 12.9 miles per hour on July 12.

The wind direction in Orkney during the summer is predominantly out of the north from June 1 to June 7 and the west from June 7 to August 31.

Orkney is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water.

The average surface water temperature in Orkney is increasing during the summer, rising by 6°F, from 49°F to 55°F, over the course of the season.

The highest average surface water temperature during the summer is 55°F on August 29.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

The growing season in Orkney typically lasts for 8.0 months (245 days), from around April 5 to around December 7, rarely starting before February 28 or after May 4, and rarely ending before November 6 or after January 2.

The summer in Orkney is reliably fully within the growing season.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Orkney are increasing during the summer, increasing by 425°F, from 46°F to 471°F, over the course of the season.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Orkney is very rapidly decreasing during the summer, falling by 2.2 kWh, from 5.6 kWh to 3.5 kWh, over the course of the season.

The highest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the summer is 5.8 kWh on June 20.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Orkney are 58.985 deg latitude, -2.960 deg longitude, and 7 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Orkney contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 420 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 88 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (869 feet). Within 50 miles also contains very significant variations in elevation (1,572 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Orkney is covered by grassland (61%), water (25%), and artificial surfaces (11%), within 10 miles by water (54%) and grassland (29%), and within 50 miles by water (88%).