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Winter Weather in Orkney United Kingdom

Daily high temperatures are around 44°F, rarely falling below 37°F or exceeding 51°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 43°F on January 28.

Daily low temperatures are around 38°F, rarely falling below 31°F or exceeding 45°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 36°F on February 17.

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.

Average High and Low Temperature in the Winter in Orkney

Average High and Low Temperature in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb25°F25°F30°F30°F35°F35°F40°F40°F45°F45°F50°F50°F55°F55°FFallSpringJan 2843°FJan 2843°F37°F37°FDec 146°FDec 146°F39°F39°FFeb 2844°FFeb 2844°F37°F37°FJan 143°FJan 143°F37°F37°F
The daily average high (red line) and low (blue line) temperature, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted lines are the corresponding average perceived temperatures.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter 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.

Average Hourly Temperature in the Winter in Orkney

Average Hourly Temperature in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb12 AM12 AM2 AM2 AM4 AM4 AM6 AM6 AM8 AM8 AM10 AM10 AM12 PM12 PM2 PM2 PM4 PM4 PM6 PM6 PM8 PM8 PM10 PM10 PM12 AM12 AMFallSpringvery coldcoldcold
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
The average hourly temperature, color coded into bands. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

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 winter in Orkney experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 69% throughout the season. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 70% on February 4.

The clearest day of the winter is December 13, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 33% 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%.

Cloud Cover Categories in the Winter in Orkney

Cloud Cover Categories in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%FallSpringMay 2946%May 2946%Dec 133%Dec 133%Feb 2831%Feb 2831%Jan 132%Jan 132%Feb 130%Feb 130%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercast
0% clear 20% mostly clear 40% partly cloudy 60% mostly cloudy 80% overcast 100%
The percentage of time spent in each cloud cover band, categorized by the percentage of the sky covered by clouds.

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 winter is gradually decreasing, starting the season at 45% and ending it at 41%.

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.

Over the course of the winter in Orkney, the chance of a day with only rain decreases from 44% to 40%, the chance of a day with mixed snow and rain remains an essentially constant 1% throughout, and the chance of a day with only snow remains an essentially constant 0% throughout.

Probability of Precipitation in the Winter in Orkney

Probability of Precipitation in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0%0%5%5%10%10%15%15%20%20%25%25%30%30%35%35%40%40%45%45%50%50%FallSpringJan 449%Jan 449%Dec 145%Dec 145%Feb 2841%Feb 2841%Feb 146%Feb 146%rainmixed
The percentage of days in which various types of precipitation are observed, excluding trace quantities: rain alone, snow alone, and mixed (both rain and snow fell in the same day).

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 winter in Orkney is decreasing, starting the season at 3.0 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.5 inches or falls below 1.6 inches, and ending the season at 2.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.4 inches or falls below 1.2 inches.

Average Monthly Rainfall in the Winter in Orkney

Average Monthly Rainfall in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0 in0 in1 in1 in2 in2 in3 in3 in4 in4 in5 in5 inFallSpringDec 13.0 inDec 13.0 inFeb 282.5 inFeb 282.5 inJan 13.1 inJan 13.1 inFeb 12.8 inFeb 12.8 in
The average rainfall (solid line) accumulated over the course of a sliding 31-day period centered on the day in question, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands. The thin dotted line is the corresponding average snowfall.

Over the course of the winter in Orkney, the length of the day is very rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 3 hours, 46 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 2 minutes, 32 seconds, and weekly increase of 17 minutes, 47 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is December 21, with 6 hours, 11 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 10 hours, 29 minutes of daylight.

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in the Winter in Orkney

Hours of Daylight and Twilight in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0 hr24 hr4 hr20 hr8 hr16 hr12 hr12 hr16 hr8 hr20 hr4 hr24 hr0 hrFallSpringDec 216 hr, 11 minDec 216 hr, 11 minnightnightdaydayFeb 2810 hr, 29 minFeb 2810 hr, 29 minFeb 18 hr, 12 minFeb 18 hr, 12 min
The number of hours during which the Sun is visible (black line). From bottom (most yellow) to top (most gray), the color bands indicate: full daylight, twilight (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and full night.

The latest sunrise of the winter in Orkney is 9:06 AM on December 27 and the earliest sunrise is 1 hour, 56 minutes earlier at 7:10 AM on February 28.

The earliest sunset is 3:14 PM on December 15 and the latest sunset is 2 hours, 25 minutes later at 5:39 PM on February 28.

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

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time in the Winter in Orkney

Sunrise & Sunset with Twilight and Daylight Saving Time in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AMFallSpring7:10 AM7:10 AMFeb 285:39 PMFeb 285:39 PM9:00 AM9:00 AMDec 153:14 PMDec 153:14 PM9:05 AM9:05 AMJan 13:26 PMJan 13:26 PM8:19 AM8:19 AMFeb 14:31 PMFeb 14:31 PMSolarMidnightSolarMidnightSolarNoonSunriseSunset
The solar day in the winter. From bottom to top, the black lines are the previous solar midnight, sunrise, solar noon, sunset, and the next solar midnight. The day, twilights (civil, nautical, and astronomical), and night are indicated by the color bands from yellow to gray.

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.

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in the Winter in Orkney

Solar Elevation and Azimuth in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb12 AM12 AM2 AM2 AM4 AM4 AM6 AM6 AM8 AM8 AM10 AM10 AM12 PM12 PM2 PM2 PM4 PM4 PM6 PM6 PM8 PM8 PM10 PM10 PM12 AM12 AMFallSpring001001010
northeastsouthwest
Solar elevation and azimuth in the the winter of 2024. The black lines are lines of constant solar elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon, in degrees). The background color fills indicate the azimuth (the compass bearing) of the sun. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries of the cardinal compass points indicate the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter 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.

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in the Winter in Orkney

Moon Rise, Set & Phases in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb12 AM12 AM4 AM4 AM8 AM8 AM12 PM12 PM4 PM4 PM8 PM8 PM12 AM12 AMFallSpringNov 112:48 PMNov 112:48 PMNov 159:29 PMNov 159:29 PMDec 16:22 AMDec 16:22 AMDec 159:02 AMDec 159:02 AMDec 3010:28 PMDec 3010:28 PMJan 1310:28 PMJan 1310:28 PMJan 2912:37 PMJan 2912:37 PMFeb 121:54 PMFeb 121:54 PMFeb 2812:45 AMFeb 2812:45 AMMar 146:55 AMMar 146:55 AMMar 2910:58 AMMar 2910:58 AM3:46 PM3:46 PM9:53 AM9:53 AM2:21 PM2:21 PM9:12 AM9:12 AM3:59 PM3:59 PM4:44 PM4:44 PM8:26 AM8:26 AM7:31 AM7:31 AM5:19 PM5:19 PM6:39 AM6:39 AM5:44 AM5:44 AM
The time in which the moon is above the horizon (light blue area), with new moons (dark gray lines) and full moons (blue lines) indicated. The shaded overlays indicate night and civil twilight.

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 winter, 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.

Humidity Comfort Levels in the Winter in Orkney

Humidity Comfort Levels in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0%0%10%10%20%20%30%30%40%40%50%50%60%60%70%70%80%80%90%90%100%100%FallSpringJan 150%Jan 150%Dec 10%Dec 10%Feb 280%Feb 280%Jan 10%Jan 10%Feb 10%Feb 10%drydry
dry 55°F comfortable 60°F humid 65°F muggy 70°F oppressive 75°F miserable
The percentage of time spent at various humidity comfort levels, categorized by dew point.

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 essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 0.9 miles per hour of 21.6 miles per hour throughout.

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 highest daily average wind speed during the winter is 22.5 miles per hour on January 24.

Average Wind Speed in the Winter in Orkney

Average Wind Speed in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0 mph0 mph5 mph5 mph10 mph10 mph15 mph15 mph20 mph20 mph25 mph25 mph30 mph30 mph35 mph35 mphFallSpringJan 2422.5 mphJan 2422.5 mphDec 120.8 mphDec 120.8 mphFeb 2820.9 mphFeb 2820.9 mphJan 122.1 mphJan 122.1 mph
The average of mean hourly wind speeds (dark gray line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

The wind direction in Orkney during the winter is predominantly out of the west from December 1 to January 1, from January 13 to February 21, and from February 27 to February 28 and the south from January 1 to January 13 and from February 21 to February 27.

Wind Direction in the Winter in Orkney

Wind Direction in the Winter in OrkneySWSWSWDecJanFeb0%100%20%80%40%60%60%40%80%20%100%0%FallSpringwestsouthnortheast
northeastsouthwest
The percentage of hours in which the mean wind direction is from each of the four cardinal wind directions, excluding hours in which the mean wind speed is less than 1.0 mph. The lightly tinted areas at the boundaries are the percentage of hours spent in the implied intermediate directions (northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest).

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 decreasing during the winter, falling by 5°F, from 49°F to 45°F, over the course of the season.

Average Water Temperature in the Winter in Orkney

Average Water Temperature in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb42°F42°F44°F44°F46°F46°F48°F48°F50°F50°F52°F52°F54°F54°FFallSpringDec 149°FDec 149°FFeb 2845°FFeb 2845°FJan 147°FJan 147°FFeb 145°FFeb 145°F
The daily average water temperature (purple line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

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 winter in Orkney is very likely fully outside of the growing season, with the chance that a given day is in the growing season reaching a low of 3% on January 24.

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in the Winter in Orkney

Time Spent in Various Temperature Bands and the Growing Season in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%FallSpring60%Dec 160%Dec 1Feb 2810%Feb 2810%Jan 111%Jan 111%Feb 13%Feb 13%90%Nov 690%Nov 63%Jan 243%Jan 24very coldcoldfreezing
frigid 15°F freezing 32°F very cold 45°F cold 55°F cool 65°F comfortable 75°F warm 85°F hot 95°F sweltering
The percentage of time spent in various temperature bands. The black line is the percentage chance that a given day is 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 rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 627°F, from 628°F to 1°F, over the course of the season.

Growing Degree Days in the Winter in Orkney

Growing Degree Days in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0°F0°F100°F100°F200°F200°F300°F300°F400°F400°F500°F500°F600°F600°F700°F700°F800°F800°F900°F900°FFallSpringDec 1628°FDec 1628°FFeb 281°FFeb 281°F
The average growing degree days accumulated over the course of the winter, with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

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 increasing during the winter, rising by 1.0 kWh, from 0.3 kWh to 1.3 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 0.2 kWh on December 21.

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in the Winter in Orkney

Average Daily Incident Shortwave Solar Energy in the Winter in OrkneyDecJanFeb0.0 kWh0.0 kWh0.5 kWh0.5 kWh1.0 kWh1.0 kWh1.5 kWh1.5 kWh2.0 kWh2.0 kWh2.5 kWh2.5 kWh3.0 kWh3.0 kWh3.5 kWh3.5 kWh4.0 kWh4.0 kWhFallSpringDec 210.2 kWhDec 210.2 kWhDec 10.3 kWhDec 10.3 kWhFeb 281.3 kWhFeb 281.3 kWhFeb 10.5 kWhFeb 10.5 kWh
The average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground per square meter (orange line), with 25th to 75th and 10th to 90th percentile bands.

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%).

This report illustrates the typical weather in Orkney, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016.

Temperature and Dew Point

There are 2 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Orkney.

For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Orkney according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations.

The estimated value at Orkney is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Orkney and a given station.

The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:

To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Orkney and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data.

Other Data

All data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus.

All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid.

Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database .

Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com .

Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Disclaimer

The information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site.

We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands.

We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader.

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