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 podcast, 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.