Scots face summer weather misery for second year as school holidays begin

IT’S the typical Scottish weather forecast you expect when schools break up for the summer – showers, gales, plunging temperatures and travel disruption.

In what could be a worrying repeat of last year’s summer washout, Scotland’s weather is being dominated by ‘unusually’ low pressure systems barrelling in from the Atlantic.

On Wednesday, as kids were quitting classrooms, ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne was cancelling services on the Oban to Castlebay route and everything out of Mallaig.

At the same time, Glasgow Airport was reporting its busiest spell of the year, with 600,000 people passing through the terminal for foreign holidays.

Barrhead Travel reported a 15 per cent increase in late summer bookings following one of the rainiest springs on record.

The firm said the lucky ones are heading for hotspots like the Spanish Costas, Turkey, Tenerife as well as Cyprus, The Algarve in Portugal and Florida.

Ronald Leitch, Chief Operating Officer at AGS Airports, which owns Glasgow Airport, said:“The Scottish summer has been pretty underwhelming so far and we anticipate that the airport will be busy over the next few weeks with passengers keen to head abroad for some much-needed sunshine.

“There is always a fantastic atmosphere in the terminal, particularly now the school term has come to an end and thousands of families arrive at the airport each day to head off on their holidays.

“The next few weeks will be the busiest we have experienced since 2019.”

It’s a far gloomier picture for stay-at-home holidaymakers.
Gales in the mid 40mph bracket are predicted today, the day Edinburgh schools break for the summer.

The long-range forecast makes for grim reading up to July 10 and even the rest of next month holds the potential for wet conditions in the north west of the UK.

Met Office forecaster Grahame Madge said: ”It’s too early to say summer is going to be a washout in Scotland.

“Generally, the UK will see periods of better weather, but these spells may be harder to find for Scotland.

“It’s not going to be wall-to-wall sunshine, which you hope for when the children break up for the school holidays.

“Just now, we are seeing a deep area of low pressure over St Kilda, bringing unusually strong winds and rain for the time of year.

“This system does not deserve formal weather warnings but these are conditions we would not expect at the end of June. But don’t give up hope – the summer’s not finished yet.”
Friday’s temperature on the west coast is predicted to be just 13C (55F) as the area is buffeted by summer gales.

By contrast, Palma in Majorca was yesterday a sizzling 31C (88F) and the Greek capital Athens even warmer at 34C (93F).

Last summer was deeply disappointing for stay-at-home families as well, which saw the rain clouds open as soon as the schools shut.

In less than three weeks, it’s hoped Scotland can put on a sunny show to the world during the 152nd Open golf championship at Royal Troon.