Winter driving in the Outer Hebrides
Winter here is not simply colder. Daylight is short, the wind is a genuine driving factor rather than a nuisance, and travel is far more likely to be disrupted. None of that makes it a bad time to visit. It makes it a time to plan differently.
Four things that are different in winter
- **Daylight is short.** The usable driving and sightseeing day is a fraction of the summer one, and it is the constraint everything else has to fit inside.
- **Wind is a driving factor.** On exposed roads and causeways it affects handling directly, and it affects high-sided vehicles considerably more than low ones.
- **Travel is disrupted more often.** Ferries and flights cancel for weather, and a cancellation moves the rest of your trip rather than one leg of it.
- **Conditions vary within a journey.** Bright and dry at one end of an island and unpleasant at the other is entirely normal.
Choose a lower vehicle than you would in summer
A high-sided van or a tall MPV is markedly harder work in a winter crosswind, particularly on exposed stretches. If the load allows it, the lower vehicle is the calmer drive, and the load usually does allow it in winter, when fewer people are carrying bikes and boards.
What to have with you
- A charged phone, and something to charge it from. Coverage is not continuous and a flat battery is a real problem rather than an inconvenience.
- Warm layers and something waterproof, in the car rather than in the boot under everything else.
- Water and something to eat on a long drive. Recovery takes longer here than on the mainland.
- More fuel than you think you need. In winter, running low is a different order of problem.
Build a trip that bends
Plan around the daylight rather than the clock, and put the drive you most want to make early in the trip rather than on the last day. Weather that closes in has less to spoil that way.
Leave a genuine buffer before any flight or sailing, and be prepared for the possibility of losing a day entirely. A trip with slack in it is a good winter trip; one without is a stressful one.
Tell us early
If a cancellation moves your collection or return, contact us as soon as you know rather than when you arrive. The earlier we know, the more we can do about it.
If the vehicle itself stops, call RAC breakdown assistance first and us second. The details are on our breakdown page.
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