AIBU to consider moving to Scotland because I cannot cope with heat?

The east of Scotland, particularly the south east, is drier than Wales. It is, however, cold in the winter - particularly when the east wind blows. That said, I personally deal far better with dry cold than the wet and love the blue skies and sunshine we enjoy in the winter.

It was an El Nino year this year next year we will probably have entered El Nina and it with just rain!

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2026/an-unprecedented-el-nio-and-its-implications-for-the-weather-forecast

If we end up going full on southern Med, then we will have to adapt (schools will start at 7.30 and finish at lunch time, summer holidays will start in June until September). I wouldn't move to Scotland just because of I extreme hot summer. I'd get aircon fitted and expect that my daily pattern will have to shift to accomdate it. I lived in NE scotland for 4 years as a student and it gets dark at 3.30 in the winter and doesn't get properly light until 8.30 (although some days it feels dark all day). Never would I move back (although the summer was fun).

Are your midges the same as our midges? Little bitty flying things that cover winows, doors, cars and fly into your hair and everywhere else? They live for a day but seem to never end under their cycle is over?

If so, I thought we were the only ones to get those blasted things! Yuck!

It’s still been very hot here and once you acclimatise it will annoy you just as much as down south.

Go for it, we did. Never regretted it. Be prepared for the cold winters (the Borders) are not too bad. The people are really nice for the most part, don’t believe everything you may have heard about the Scots being anti English, that’s so not true. The scenario is beautiful, so much to see and whoever mentioned miserable winters in this post, well there is much to do whatever time of the year.

Why would either of those be preferable to Scotland?

I think there is nothing wrong with considering, researching and exploring the idea. All big changes are scary, it doesn’t mean they are wrong. I live in Scotland, my daughter is in the south of England and if their lives weren’t so settled there she would move back here to avoid the heat.
Things to consider,
if you go very far north you can be faced with long journeys to get anywhere and with slower or more expensive deliveries.
depending on the age of children you need to time moves carefully to not muck up exam years.
be prepared for higher taxes etc.
if you will need to travel, even if occasionally, for work you might be better in the central belt or south of Scotland.
east of Scotland generally a bit less wet than west.

Summer holidays start in June in Scotland.

Think of the 6 month long, freezing cold, dark all day winters too

I relocated to the UK 23 years ago. I was pretty much your age. It was a huge move, different language, no family no friends, but had my partner. We saved enough money before leaving not to be forced to accept any job before settling.

We thought "better now at our age, than later. And if it doesn't work we can always go back".

I didn't regret it for a single moment. Once you change you can quickly adapt, enjoy, or go back. Many other friends from different countries did the same, some won, some went back.

One thing I can say is be prepared for something completely different with an open mind, if you go there always comparing what you were used to it is going to be tough.

I think relocation works for the open minded, humbly accepting a different reality than what you left.

Perhaps before moving the whole of your family you might want to try it for a semester and see how it goes, with them as a safety net in case it's not what you expected.

This is just general advise based on experience.

One little thing:
It's true ac is good when you're indoor, and the heat prevents you from enjoying life outside. But so does continuous rain and dark.

For me however I would try, and I'm thinking about it. Like you I'm comfortable when it's cold and dull, and heat makes my life miserable. It's one of the reasons why I relocated, where I was born I had summer starting mid April until end of September, and it's deadly if you have to work, commute, sleep into tropical temps.

I'd try it before I buy.

I don't thinK you are unreasonable.

As a Welsh-loving Scot, you are so wrong!

OP I live in Scotland - where are you thinking of moving too? We’ve had a pretty decent summer actually!

I understand your dislike of the heat very much. I have Lupus which means I cannot tolerate the sun, and I struggle to regulate my body temperature. It is deeply debilitating on so many levels. I also struggle with the incredible brightness of the sun day after day. Yes, I have spent most of the summer indoors and it was miserable. I too have seriously considered the future and where I might move to. It would be drastic to move from all the people I know and sense of community. What I amconsidering - and this is my suggestion to you too - is how to create a life where I spend the majority of the summer months in another cooler climate. At least for a few years as a trial and if the back and forth is not working as I might wish, I could decide to move permanently. Or stay, with acceptance of fundamental lifestyle changes.
I I understand your dislike of the heat very much. I have Lupus which means I cannot tolerate the sun at all and I struggle to regulate my body temperature. It is deeply debilitating on so many levels and I cannot tolerate the heat and the incredible brightness day after day. Yes, I have spent most of the summer indoors and it’s miserable. I too have seriously considered the future and where I might move to. It would be very drastic to move from all the people I know and sense of community. What I am considering - and this is my suggestion to you too - is how to create a life where I spend the majority of the summer months in another cooler climate. At least for a few years as a trial and if the back and forth is not working as I might wish, I could decide to move permanently. Or stay, with acceptance of fundamental lifestyle changes.
I hope you find a solution that works out for you. Most sun lovers simply have no idea how hard it is to tolerate the sun and the heat. In a country which has not invested in shade and trees in its cities and towns, it’s pretty hard going actually. you find a solution that works out for you. Most sun lovers simply have no idea how hard it is to tolerate the sun and the heat. In a country which has not invested in shade and trees in its cities and towns, it’s pretty hard going actually.

I’ve been considering it myself, two of my sons live there. But we’ve been up there in October and it’s been absolutely freezing. My youngest son, who doesn’t normally feel the cold that much, was going to bed in pj’s with a jumper over the top. So that’s something to bear in mind.

It's certainly not like this in my region. Can be hours for an ambulance - I know someone who was told to take her husband to hospital herself when he was having a heart attack as there wasn't an ambulance available...can be hours at A & E... you'll be very lucky to get an NHS dentist appointment..... It varies hugely according to region !!!! And yes, also the extra income tax !!

Depends if you need active care and management of your health condition. Much smaller population in Scotland so fewer hospitals.
I would check out healthcare options first. We’ve thought about moving to Scotland but I’m under the care of a few different hospitals and physical therapists now all within an hours drive and can’t just give this up.

Moving house is expensive, in the short term it may be easier and cheaper to buy air conditioning and go on holiday to Scotland for outdoor activities.

Having moved a long way from where I grew up there’s a lot to be said for local community, familiar faces and places imho.

Also John Swinney is fiercely committed to having gender self-id in Scotland and trying to introduce this through new legislation now. I don’t want healthcare from men who say they’re women like with the Dr who harassed Nurse Sandie Peggie for refusing to get undressed in front of him in the female Nurses changing room, and said he’d still treat a woman who asked for a female doctor and ignore the law that says same sex care should be based on sex and not gender. NHS Scotland sided with the Dr and not with the law, they lost at Tribunal.

Another one who thinks the OP is dreaming of living at the North Pole... 🤦

My heating came on today.

If I had a fiver for every time I’ve heard this this summer I’d be a rich woman. It’s either the heat or the fact you can’t have 10 acres for 500k in the Home Counties. It sounds like you need AC and a reality check about what adapting to a new community outside of the 10 square miles you’ve lived in, never mind the fact that Scotland is a whole country and culture that’s different from yours, however much you claim to “love Scotland”.

This Is full of nonsense.

I live in Shetland, not that far from the North Pole

Lots of people do move up to Scotland from further south though. They're a fair old chunk of my local community, and most seem to thrive.

Ilive in central belt and once past Perth I find it is definitely a mini England, European land. The accents are from all over. As for the weather, do you feel areas such as Scotland will be exempt from any temperature increase even in a few years. I've lived in the south east and would go back if I could afford to.

It's no where near 32 to 35 with no wind and high humidity. And that's at night. We were down for a week and it was unbearable.

Agreed. Complete rubbish.

The NHS is in far better health in Scotland than England. It does not matter what Swinney wants and thinks. It's the people of Scotland that set the tone of the nation. Look what happened to that plonker call Farage.