Scotland's most populous belt runs coast to coast from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and the lowland figures here, from Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden, are among the mildest in the country.
But the belt also rises into the Campsies, Pentlands and Ochils, and those hills are a different climate. No open Met Office station sits on that high ground, so the upland figures borrow Eskdalemuir and are flagged low-confidence: read them as the shape of upland behaviour, not a local record.
Where this covers
- EH Edinburgh and the Lothians
- G Glasgow
- PA1-PA19 Paisley, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde
- FK Falkirk and Stirling
- ML Motherwell and Lanarkshire
- KA Kilmarnock and Ayrshire
- KY Kirkcaldy and Fife
- DD Dundee and Angus
Frost dates for Edinburgh, Glasgow & Fife
- Lowland (coastal; under ~150m): last frost mid-to-late April, first autumn frost late October, safe to plant out mid May.
- Upland (inland; above ~150m): last frost mid-to-late May, first autumn frost late September, safe to plant out early June.
Dates are rounded to the nearest half month, from named Met Office stations (1991-2020 averages). Lowland means under about 150m; upland is above that.
| Garden | Last spring frost | First autumn frost | Safe to plant out | Season | Station | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lowland | mid-to-late April | late October | mid May | ~185 days | Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Garden No 2 | high |
| upland | mid-to-late May | late September | early June | ~130 days | Eskdalemuir (242m) | low |
Upland: Analogue only. Eskdalemuir is in Dumfriesshire, not the Central Belt; used because no open Met Office station represents Central Belt high ground. Treat as indicative of upland behaviour, not a local record.
Checked against station records at Paisley and Leuchars.
What this means for growing here
Sow and plant out to these dates rather than a UK calendar, and remember they are regional averages. Your own plot can run two to four weeks later in a frost pocket, or earlier against a warm wall. If your garden is above about 150m, use the upland figures; below that, the lowland ones. The Planting Calendar turns these into a month-by-month plan.
When to plant out tender crops here
Frost-tender crops go outside only once the safe planting-out date has passed, about two weeks after the last frost: mid May on low ground and the coast, early June on high ground in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Fife. That applies to tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, sweetcorn, peppers, chillies and aubergines grown outdoors. That date is the earliest they can go out, not a promise they will ripen: on high ground only about 130 frost-free days follow it, so a greenhouse, polytunnel or cloches are the safer bet there.
Articles for gardens in Edinburgh, Glasgow & Fife
- You Just Got Your First Allotment
- Allotment or Community Garden? What Scotland's Law Actually Says
- Improving Clay Soil in Scotland
- Scotland's East/West Rainfall Divide: A Garden-Planning Framework
- Frost Pockets vs Suntraps
Sources
- Met Office: location-specific long-term averages: the 1991-2020 air-frost day counts behind every figure on this page, last verified 2026-07-15
- Derivation method: GrowScotland's own. We treat a month as carrying meaningful frost risk when it averages at least half an air-frost day, take the last such month in spring and the first in autumn, and express each as a half-month band.