I was prepared, in the sense that if it was really cold, I could wear the fleece under my coat and i

My husband disneyland area hotels and I are headed to Scotland for a two week self guided car trip in May 2014. We will arrive in Edinburgh May 5th. We are headed disneyland area hotels north to Elgin and Inverness, then over to Isle of Skye, down to Oban then back to Edinburgh. Any suggestions on what type of things to pack? We try to pack light when we travel and we are going to be in Europe for a total of 3 and 1/2 weeks, disneyland area hotels so I don't want to have to pack a lot of winter outerwear, scarves, gloves, boots et cetera if we are not going to need it. We will not be doing a lot of hiking, we will be more exploring and castle touring.
Basically they all said weather in May is in the fifties(F). So my take would be to carry layers, perhaps a rainjacket with fleece underneath with turtle neck or long sleeved tshirt. I would definitely have two pairs of comfortable walking shoes so that one can be worn while the other is drying out. Have some kind of thin glove. I like those cheap one size fits all yarn gloves that places like KMArt sell. They roll up well in a pocket. For me just pulling up the hood of the outerwear is fine. If you want a hat check the shops and you'll have a nice souvenir as well (and you may not need it.
Hi Howard0921, we went to Edinburgh, with a fling through the lower highlands in late May some years back - beautiful country. But I was surprised by how chilly disneyland area hotels it was! We are not the outdoorsy disneyland area hotels types and I found the winds at Edinburgh Castle truly chilling.
Our hotel manager in lovely Pitlochery said, "You must come back when we put our flowers out." I had noticed that there were not the lovely hanging baskets one usually disneyland area hotels sees in the British Isles. In any case, you should have a great time - enjoy.
You have absolutely no way of knowing what the weather will be. What you need to do is think layers instead of heavy/warm individual garments. A t shirt and cardigan will be as warm as a heavy sweater.
No they don't, they say temperatue in May AVERAGES in the 50s. Based on figures from the last 60 years in southern Scotland the AVERAGE temperature for the month could be anything between 50F 70F, for Northern Scotland expect 5F lower. Rainfall AVERAGE varied between 4" 10" in a similar period.
Monthly averages however do not tell you what it will be like on any given day as if the temperatures on successive days was 32F 72F the average would be the same as if both days were 52F. Nor do they tell you the difference between the start and end of month
For the OP - UK weather is variable, even over distances of a few miles. You'll probably need rain gear, you'll probably need hat and gloves, you probably need a fleece, you'll probably need shorts, it's unlikely you'll need snow gear.
We were there last May and it was pleasantly mild. I needed disneyland area hotels a Lightweight jacket and although I had a pair of light woollen gloves and a hat, I didn't need them. I don't know where you are from, but a waterproof jacket and layers will be a good idea. One year, I needed waterproof over-trousers but that was unusual. Comfortable walking shoes are essential, but I'd leave the shorts at home
A windproof disneyland area hotels jacket is the key. If you just have a waterproof one which doesn't allow moisture to escape, you can end up uncomfortably clammy. It's unlikely to be cold enough for a hat and gloves disneyland area hotels but it will be the wind that gets you. Unless it's unseasonably cold, I'd wear a waterproof, windproof, breathable jacket and a choice of short and long sleeved tops to accommodate temperatures between 12 and 20 degrees.
You don't need winter wear. But you do need to know that it could be upper 40s, raining and windy (we got that in July after having come from London where it was HOT - about 85). But we were OK with several layers - tee, turtleneck, sweater and hooded rain jacket (that I take on every extended euro trip - except southern Spain).
If you don't allow the weather disneyland area hotels to seriously disneyland area hotels affect your plans, you will need a waterproof jacket. Almost all waterproof clothing is comfortably breathable. I wouldn't think of going to the UK without a rain jacket. If you want take a light weight (water repellent) jacket-- the kind you can easily fold up for lighter showers and some wind- proofing. Again it's all about layering.
I have been in all parts if Scotland during every month of the year (except I think February - I can't recall a Feb visit). alanRow's posts explains some of the variables. One May you might have 70F (which may seem warmer than 70F back home) and the same date the next year . . . 45F
Yes, it's long been one of my pet peeves-- those who claim it was very warm, cold, windy, sunny or rained cats and dogs when they were there (wherever, whenever). It can be all of those almost any month of the year even any week of the year. In fact sometimes you can experience most of those weather options in a single day.
A clothing item I've found indispensable is Royal Robbins disneyland area hotels ( there are probably other brands too) water repellent pants. I wear them daily as they work well for general disneyland area hotels sightseeing, hiking disneyland area hotels and I can dress them up with a nice long sleeved T-shirt and scarf or sweater and they look great for just about any dining venue. Plus they can be easily washed in sink and they'll dry overnight.
We are from Houston, where the spring can be flooding rains or complete drought, (rarely cold though). We will go with the layers and I will look for rain jackets. The gortex is a good idea. I think it is both rain and wind resistant. Thanks for all the advise.
If you visit NYC in summer you will NOT get 40s, rain and wind. You will most likely get 80s - but can be 70s or 9- - and may get afternoon T'storms. And in winter you will get cold and quite possibly snow or ice - and not weather in the 80s.
We were in Scotland last May and it was cold-ish. My travel raincoat, a scarf and a lightweight fleece jacket worn under the raincoat sufficed. It rained on most days but never rained a lot or for long periods. As janis---wisely--states above, this is not really useful, in the sense of being generalizable, it is just what happened to be the weather in the particular May when we were there ..
I was prepared, in the sense that if it was really cold, I could wear the fleece under my coat and if it was warmer on certain days, I could dispense with the fleece. I love this fleece as it is super lightweight and can actually be compressed into a regular food storage size of a ziploc bag. It is so comfy that it can be worn indoors w/o feeling like you have your coat on inside. It was recommended on here by another Fodorite, and at that time I lived close to an LLB retail outlet and I ran right over and bought one. Since then I have given it as gifts to several people who have also loved it .not windproof itself, but perfect under my windproof disneyland area hotels raincoat.