Did you mean: "National Parks in Scotland?"

Walking to work yesterday morning, I thought, “Wow, it’s pretty nice out.” For a winter’s day in Ottawa, that’s a fairly radical statement. After consulting with my colleagues, I came to learn that it was only -15°C. Nice! After a couple of months’ worth of -25°C to -40°C, it looks like spring is finally coming!

That got me thinking about weather in Scotland. I’m aware that certain areas of the country are notorious for high rainfall levels and that, even on days that start off nice, the weather can change quickly and drastically. But I’d never really heard much about what winter is like in Scotland. That made me start to worry. What if Scottish winters are as frigid as they are here? Am I going to be giving up glorious Ottawa summers in favour of middling summer temps in Scotland, while keeping the four months of nostril-freezing that I have to put up with in winter here?

So I did what anyone of my generation does when we encounter the unknown: “I goog’d it.”

My query to Google: “Do I need a parka in Scotland?”

Google’s Reply: “Scottish National Parks”

I’m going to take that as a “No.”

In fact, I could not, no matter how I phrased the question, find any results that contained both the words “parka” and “Scotland.” That, my friends, is quite a relief. A goose-down, fur-collared weight off my shoulders. Any place that does not have “parka” as part of its everyday lexicon is a place that I could get used to.

Just out of curiosity though, I wanted to get a further sense of what winter temperatures are generally like in Scotland. Will I really be able to get by with just a pea coat? Impossible! That’s no winter I’ve ever heard of!

After a fair bit of digging, I finally found this:

“January and February are generally the coldest months in Scotland, with the daytime maximum temperatures with ranges of an average of around 5°C to 7°C.”

“the daytime maximum temperatures with ranges of an average of around 5°C to 7°C"

“average of around 5°C to 7°C"

“5°C to 7°C"

Are you kidding me?! Winter temperatures can be above 0°C?? Are you still legally allowed to call it winter at that point?

F*ck the parka! Pea coat be damned! With those kinds of temps, I’m going to the beach.