5 reasons to visit Shetland in winter

Shifting light in winter at Bressay Lighthouse

If I had a penny for every time I was asked about winter in Shetland, I’d be a millionaire – and then some – and there are many reasons to visit, but you need to ask yourself first ‘what do I want from a visit’.

If the answer is puffins, light, activities, and long hikes with a picnic, you’ll likely want to visit in summer when the days are long, and the hills are dry enough to walk anywhere. If you’d like to feel the sting of the wind on your cheeks and the raw power of mother nature as you battle through the wind on a rugged headland before hunkering down in the evening with a good book and a dram, then you should consider the winter.

It’s no secret that winters in Shetland are long, dark and unrelenting. Many people move to Shetland believing they can handle it – they get darkness and poor weather in England too. Yet the darkness here is deeper, the wind blows stronger, the cold bites harder, and we’re not released from the grip of winter until well through spring. They say that spring arrives at a walking pace – so you can imagine how long it takes to trudge up here from London. It’s the unrelenting and often persistent onslaught of storm after storm that grinds people down – leaving us all longing for the bright emergence of spring.

But winter has a magic and beauty all of its own. I’m just home from a winter walk; I watched the sunrise over the island of Bressay and, despite having been back at my desk for half an hour, can still feel the sting of the north wind in my cheeks. I feel invigorated and energised.

In this blog, I will go slightly against the grain, and I’m sure that doesn’t surprise you. I’ll offer you the reasons to visit Shetland in winter, along with the counter-argument against visiting at this time. Then, once you’ve been informed, and if you’re still chomping at the bit to come here in the quiet depths of winter, you’ll know that you’re well prepared for it.

A peaceful St Ninian's Isle in January

Silence is golden

If you’re simply seeking solitude and breathing space, then, by October, things have quieted down, and, along with the annual seabirds, the summer visitors have all flown off back south. There are fewer hire cars on the road, and popular beauty spots are less busy, and, quite often, you can find yourself being the only person on the beach once again. Shetland is a tremendously inspiring place, and for visiting artists and writers, serious inspiration can be found, and winter is one of the best times to find it as we slow down, rest and reflect.

If you’re an artist, writer or creative, several places offer creative residencies, including the Fair Isle Studio, the Booth in Scalloway or the Weaving Shed in Hillswick.

On the flip side, many attractions, including visitor centres, community museums and cafes, particularly outside town, are closed for the season or running on significantly reduced hours. This may not be an issue for some, but if you’re a social butterfly and with only six hours of daylight to be outside, you may find yourself kicking your heels and looking for things to do. That said, there’s always live music and a cold pint to be found if you seek it out!

Shetland experiences many violent storms in winter

Experience the weather

People are fascinated by Shetland’s climate, and again, this is something that I’m frequently asked about. Shetland’s climate, in general, is a relatively temperate one. We have little snowfall in winter and a relatively narrow temperature range between summer and winter. Average summer temperatures sit at about 15℃, and in winter, this drops to 5℃.

That said, the weather is wildly unpredictable and exceptionally windy. Shetland boasts the ‘unofficial’ record for the highest recorded wind speed in the UK, recording a record-breaking 197 mph before the anemometer blew away. As a result, the official record sits with Lewis in the Western Isles.

The persistent wind makes the temperature feel much cooler – often coming as a surprise to visitors who have seen the forecast temperature but fail to factor in the biting chill of the wind – especially when it’s brought from the north, straight out of the icy Arctic.

The power of the weather and the sense that that brings as you witness the sheer force of wind and wave will take your breath away – literally!

On the flip side, the wind and rain can be incessant, sometimes lasting for weeks on end. The combination of poor weather and a lack of daylight often leaves people feeling quite blue. Shetlanders are well used to the darker months, but the continued wind and rain can feel a little depressing, especially as December gives way to January and there appears to be no let-up in the darkness. Even those with the sunniest of dispositions have been known to scorn the perpetual wind, rain and darkness.

Storm after storm in Shetland ...

Mirrie Dancers

Shetland is the best place in the UK to spot the aurora borealis – known locally as the mirrie dancers. The northern lights are a phenomena that occur in polar regions and are one of the most spectacular displays in the night sky. They are caused by activity on the sun’s surface, and they have inspired – and scared – people for thousands of years. Shetland’s folklore relates tales of bad omens, increased fertility, and changes brought with this nighttime phenomenon.

Philip Pullman in Dark Materials describes the lights. He says, “The sight filled the northern sky; the immensity of it was scarcely conceivable. As if from Heaven itself, great curtains of delicate light hung and trembled. Pale green and rose-pink, and as transparent as the most fragile fabric, and at the bottom edge a profound and fiery crimson like the fires of Hell, they swung and shimmered loosely with more grace than the most skilful dancer. Lyra thought she could even hear them: a vast distant whispering swish.”

Although sightings of the lights can never be guaranteed, the best time to see them in Shetland is throughout the winter months, between mid-October and mid-March.

As mentioned earlier, Shetland can experience wind and rain for weeks on end and, with this comes extensive and thick cloud cover. Cloud cover means that the northern lights remain invisible. If your sole intention is to see the northern lights, I’d head further north and consider somewhere like Iceland, where you are more likely to get the opportunity to see them as they’re that bit closer to the Arctic Circle.

The following photo was taken, straight from my iPhone, in September 2021 in the north of Iceland, where the northern lights were like nothing I’ve ever experienced before in Shetland. (Most photos you see of the northern lights in Shetland have been taken on posh cameras with long exposures to pick up light that is not always visible to the naked eye.)

Northern lights in Iceland

Enjoy the scent of a peat fire

Shetlanders still cut and burn peat, using it as fuel to fill the stove in the absence of wood. Although peat is no longer the primary heat source, Shetlanders have a fond connection with tradition. With the familiar and distinctive smell of this much-loved fuel, many people continue to cut peat traditionally using a tool called a tushker.

You can read more about the process of working the peats here.

A peat fire in the hearth of the Shetland Crofthouse Museum

Many self-catering cottages in Shetland have stoves, although most supply wood and logs to burn. If you want to use proper peat,

Ingrid’s Self-Catering in Scalloway

has a peat-burning stove, and all your peats are supplied for your stay.

On the flip side, and contrary to what you may think, the best time to experience peats is in the summer – although they are burnt more in the winter. But, if you want an authentic experience of peat, the Crofthouse Museum in Dunrossness has a peat fire that visitors can experience – but the museum is only open throughout the summer months. Similarly, you will see people working peats in the countryside – but only in summer during the peat working season.

Shetland also experiences beautiful still days in winter

Experience the shifting light

Along with the winter storms and all the drama they conjure up, winter can also bring beautiful still days with tremendous light, days in which the sea is like a millpond. There’s a sense of urgency in the air as people get outside to soak in the weak rays from the sun that sits just above the horizon.

I often look at the sky in winter and wonder at the colours that provide an ever-changing palette of colour and texture. The sky at any given moment can be as soft as cotton on a summer breeze, with blunt edges and soft pastel colours pouring into each other. Peaches and pinks meet pale yellows and lilac in a medley of subtle beauty. It can also be harsh and blinding, casting long shadows with fierce and intense colour, setting the horizon on fire, ablaze in red and orange. Or, it remains a menacing steely grey, stoically framing the sea and accentuating the blues of the water that is forever present on an island.

A stunning palette of colour in winter

There’s no real downside to this point – the light and its ever-changing beauty is something that, even after 35 years of living here, still takes my breath away and stops me in my tracks. I guess, if I had to be pushing for a con, I’d say that when it’s a southerly gale, with driving wind and rain, the light never moves much beyond grey – and that’s fairly depressing by all accounts.

So there you have it, an honest – warts and all – account of the reasons why you should consider visiting Shetland in winter. Now to ask the final question, do you want to see Shetland in her summer finery, cloaked in the light of the Simmer Dim, or do you want to experience the grittier reality of island living? I’ll leave that one up to you, but you may find the following blogs helpful when making that final decision.