Scotland experienced a record-breaking wet summer

You may have already guessed it, but now it’s official.

The summer of 2024 was a record-breaking wet season – although some parts of the country bucked the trend.

Parts of the West Highlands had their wettest summer on record, and other western regions also had a wet enough summer to make it into the top three.

The crowning glory was a weather station called Achnagart, a remote farm of the same name in beautiful Glen Shiel.

Rain is nothing new here either. This part of Scotland receives an average of more than 3m of rain per year, often making it one of the wettest areas in Europe.

However, this summer was the wettest on record, with 785.44 mm (30.9 inches) of rainfall, and there are still a few August days to go.

This corresponds to 165% of the normal summer rainfall in the region – the last dry day here was July 31.

Rain was also not evenly distributed. More than half of the rainfall fell in August. The wettest summer to date was 2017, which broke a 50-year-old record.

Remember that in meteorology we categorize summer as the months of June, July and August, rather than the astronomical dates defined by the Earth’s position relative to the Sun, which are about three weeks later.

Other notable locations include Kinlochewe, which recorded the second wettest summer on record at 154% of average.

Stornoway, Aultbea and Tyndrum all recorded their third wettest summers with an anomaly of around 140%.

In many cases, it was the month of August in particular that drove the numbers up significantly.

Millport, Threave, Eskdalemuir, Auchincruive and Glasgow have all recorded more than twice the average rainfall for August.

Millport, the tourist town on the Isle of Great Cumbrae, is at 240% of its average and more heavy downpours are expected in the last days of the month.

However, the rainy summer was not repeated everywhere.

The east of Scotland was particularly dry during the summer. While Glasgow received twice as much rain, Edinburgh only received 70% of the average summer rainfall.

Aboyne, Charterhall, Balmoral and Kinloss also received between 75 and 90% of normal summer rainfall.

Leuchars in Fife appears to be one of the driest places, with only 62% of average recorded so far. However, it was drier here a few years ago.

Despite all the rain, it looks like the end of the metrological summer could bring us one last highlight.

According to forecasts, a high pressure system will build up by Friday and Saturday, bringing drier, brighter, sunnier and warmer weather to many areas.

And it may well last until the first week of September.