Altnaharra
Coordinates: 58°17′N 4°27′W / 58.28°N 4.45°W
Altnaharra (Scottish Gaelic: Allt na h-Eirbhe) is a small hamlet in Sutherland in the Highland region of northern Scotland. The hamlet is on the A836 road, close to its junction with the B873. The nearest villages are Lairg and Tongue. Lochs in the area include Loch Naver and Loch Eriboll.
The name Altnaharra is derived from the Scottish Gaelic Allt na h-Eirbhe, meaning Stream at the boundary wall. This is named after a stream that flows through the hamlet.
Altnaharra is famous for the Altnaharra Hotel, which opened in 1820 and quickly became a popular place for anglers to stay while visiting nearby lochs. The hotel was also popular with mountain climbers; it generally closes for winter and re-opens in March. Ben Hope and Ben Klibreck are two mountains in the immediate area of the hamlet.
Weather station
Altnaharra has a Met Office weather station. The village's northerly latitude and inland location mean that in winter it regularly features in the daily weather extremes for the United Kingdom. On 30 December 1995, the lowest temperature UK Weather Record was recorded there, at −27.2°C. This matched a similar recording at Braemar in the Grampians on 11 February 1895 and on 10 January 1982.
On 20 March 2009, it was recorded as the warmest place in the UK, at 18.5°C, the station's warmest recorded March temperature, and possibly the first time the station had recorded the warmest UK temperature. On the same day, it also recorded the second coldest overnight temperature in the UK, at −3°C. On 8 January 2010, the temperature dipped to −22.3°C, the coldest temperature recorded in the UK since 1995.
| Climate data for Altnaharra | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 6.2 (43.2) |
6.6 (43.9) |
8.3 (46.9) |
10.9 (51.6) |
14.1 (57.4) |
16.0 (60.8) |
17.8 (64) |
17.7 (63.9) |
15.5 (59.9) |
12.0 (53.6) |
8.6 (47.5) |
6.1 (43) |
11.7 (53.1) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −0.8 (30.6) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
0.7 (33.3) |
2.1 (35.8) |
4.0 (39.2) |
7.1 (44.8) |
9.7 (49.5) |
9.3 (48.7) |
6.8 (44.2) |
4.5 (40.1) |
1.8 (35.2) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
3.6 (38.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 142.4 (5.606) |
108.4 (4.268) |
115.9 (4.563) |
74.5 (2.933) |
60.8 (2.394) |
60.2 (2.37) |
61.1 (2.406) |
66.7 (2.626) |
106.5 (4.193) |
139.4 (5.488) |
127.7 (5.028) |
132.7 (5.224) |
1,196.3 (47.098) |
| Average precipitation days | 19.1 | 17.3 | 19.1 | 15.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 12.4 | 14.4 | 15.9 | 20.0 | 18.9 | 18.1 | 196.2 |
| Source: Met Office 1981-2010 averages[1] | |||||||||||||
Notable persons
- Linda Norgrove, kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and killed by a US grenade during a rescue effort.
External links
References
- ↑ "Altnaharra SAWS climate". Met Office. Retrieved 29 September 2015.