This is the region the old rules get most wrong. Lowland Inverness is the mildest mainland station we examined: milder than Edinburgh, because the sea moderates the coast and cold air drains off the hills. Nairn and the Moray coast share that mildness.
But the same region climbs into the Cairngorms, where frost runs weeks later; the upland figures use Braemar as the nearest long-record high station. Do not let "the Highlands are cold" cost you a Highland lowland spring.
Where this covers
- IV Inverness, the Moray Firth coast and Skye
- PH Perth, Perthshire and Lochaber
- KW Caithness and Orkney
Frost dates for Inverness, the Highlands & Orkney
- Lowland (coastal; Moray Firth, Caithness coast; under ~150m): last frost late April, first autumn frost late October, safe to plant out mid May.
- Upland (Cairngorms, Highland glens; above ~150m): last frost late May to early June, first autumn frost mid-to-late September, safe to plant out mid 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 | late April | late October | mid May | ~180 days | Inverness | high |
| upland | late May to early June | mid-to-late September | mid June | ~115 days | Braemar (339m) | medium |
Upland: Braemar sits in postcode AB, but is the nearest long-record high-altitude Cairngorms station and is representative of Highland upland glens, not the Highland coast, which is milder.
Checked against station records at Nairn and Wick Airport.
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, mid June on high ground in Inverness, the Highlands & Orkney. 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 115 frost-free days follow it, so a greenhouse, polytunnel or cloches are the safer bet there.
Articles for gardens in Inverness, the Highlands & Orkney
- Frost Pockets vs Suntraps
- Keeping Deer Out of a Scottish Garden
- Gardening Around the Midge: Timing, Wind and What Actually Deters Them
- Growing Through the Dark: Shetland and Orkney's Six-Hour Winter Days
- Top 5 Crops for Exposed, Windy Gardens
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.