Altnaharra

Altnaharra is famous for the Altnaharra Hotel, which opened in 1820 and quickly became a popular place for anglers to stay while visiting nearby lochs. The hotel was also popular with mountain climbers; it generally closes for winter and re-opens in March. Ben Hope and Ben Klibreck are two mountains in the immediate area of the hamlet.

Altnaharra parish church was built between 1854 and 1857 by Hugh Mackay as a Free Church. It subsequently became part of the Church of Scotland, but no regular services are presently conducted in the building.{{cite web |url=https://scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk/church/altnaharra-parish-church/ |title=Altnaharra Parish Church |date=8 May 2017}} Altnaharra is now part of the parish of Altnaharra and Farr, served by the church at Strathnaver.{{cite web |url=https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/contact-us/find-your-local-church/church-finder |title=Find your local church |date=10 August 2010 |website=churchofscotland.org.uk |publisher=The Church of Scotland}}

Altnaharra has a Met Office weather station. The village's northerly latitude and inland location mean that in winter it often features in the daily weather extremes for the United Kingdom. It is unusual in that the coldest month of the year is normally December. On 30 December 1995, the UK's lowest recorded temperature {{convert|−27.2|C|F}} was measured there. This matched recordings at Braemar in the Grampians on 11 February 1895 and on 10 January 1982. In a Parliamentary debate on the Spring Statement on 23 March 2022, local MP Jamie Stone said, "The village of Altnaharra in my constituency is the coldest place in the UK every single winter."{{cite web |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2022-03-23/debates/5794DE1D-BBED-49D3-943C-84CFE39A2526/FinancialStatement#contribution-A1FF19BB-6BEF-495E-BD4A-40710EF080DE |date=23 March 2022 |access-date=26 March 2022 |publisher=Hansard |last=Stone |first=Jamie |title=Financial Statement}}

On 20 March 2009, it was recorded as the warmest place in the UK, at {{convert|18.5|C|F}}, which was the station's warmest recorded March temperature and possibly the first time the station had recorded the warmest UK temperature.{{cite web |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/summaries/index |title=Climate summaries |website=Met Office}} The station also reported the equal warmest national temperature of {{convert|12.3|C|F}}, with Tain on 20 January 2020.{{cite tweet |author=Met Office |user=metoffice |number=1219411068201598982 |title=An intense area of high pressure, with barometer readings in excess of 1050 hPa in places, brought a fine, settled day for most, with lots of sunshine ☀️ Western and northern Scotland and Northern Ireland were cloudier and damp in places. |date=21 January 2020 |access-date=27 September 2020}} On 19 June 2020, the station had both the warmest temperature, {{convert|22.2|C|F}}, and the coldest temperature, {{convert|7.6|C|F}}, reported anywhere in the United Kingdom on that day.{{cite tweet |author=Met Office |user=metoffice |number=1274107131780894723 |title=Friday saw a mix of sunshine and showers. Some of them were heavy, with a few rumbles of thunder too. Here are the extremes for Friday|date=19 June 2020|access-date=27 September 2020}} The March 2009 temperature was beaten on 25 March 2017 when the station recorded {{convert|19.7|C|F}}. Also on 26 May 2017, the station recorded its highest May temperature of {{convert|28.0|C|F}}, beating the previous {{convert|27.4|C|F}} recorded on 27 May 2012.{{cite web |url=https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/05-2012/ws-30440.html |title=Climate Altnaharra NO2 (May 2012) - Climate data (30440) |first=Tutiempo Network |last=S.L |website=tutiempo.net}}{{cite web |url=https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/05-2017/ws-30440.html |title=Climate Altnaharra NO2 (May 2017) - Climate data (30440) |first=Tutiempo Network |last=S.L |website=tutiempo.net}} On 8 January 2010, the temperature dipped to {{convert|-22.3|C|F}}, the coldest temperature recorded in the UK since 1995.{{cite web |url=https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/2010/ws-30440.html |title=Climate Altnaharra NO2 (Year 2010) - Climate data (30440) |first=Tutiempo Network |last=S.L |website=tutiempo.net}} On 3 November 2015 the warmest November temperature of {{convert|16.1|C|F}} was reached,{{cite web |url=https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/11-2015/ws-30440.html |title=Climate Altnaharra NO2 (November 2015) - Climate data (30440) |first=Tutiempo Network |last=S.L |website=tutiempo.net}} followed by {{convert|15.6|C|F}} on 17 December 2015 being the warmest December temperature on record at the weather station.{{cite web |url=https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/12-2015/ws-30440.html |title=Climate Altnaharra NO2 (December 2015) - Climate data (30440) |first=Tutiempo Network |last=S.L |website=tutiempo.net}} On 25 January 2016, the highest January temperature of {{convert|13.9|C|F}} was reached, being surpassed on 28 January 2024.{{cite web |url=https://www.ogimet.com/cgi-bin/gsynres?ind=03044&lang=en&decoded=yes&ndays=2&ano=2024&mes=01&day=29&hora=03 |title=03044: Altnaharra (United Kingdom)|website=El Doroado Weather}} On 24 September 2020, Altnaharra reported {{convert|-5.0|C|F}} which was the lowest reported September temperature at this station, as well as being the coldest in the UK since 1997.{{cite tweet |author=Met Office |user=metoffice |number=1309062050870632451 |title=Did you notice how cold it was this morning? Last night the temperature fell to -5.0°C at Altnaharra, making it the coldest September night in the UK since 1997 The record minimum temperature for September is -6.7°C, recorded in Dalwhinnie on 26th September 1942 |date=24 September 2020 |access-date=27 September 2020}}

Altnaharra has an oceanic climate (Cfb) with short, mild summers and long, cool winters. Precipitation occurs regularly year round.

{{Weather box

|location = Altnaharra ({{convert|81|m|abbr=on|disp=or}} asl, averages 1991–2020)

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|width = auto

|Jan record high C = 16.8

|Feb record high C = 13.6

|Mar record high C = 19.7

|Apr record high C = 24.5

|May record high C = 28.0

|Jun record high C = 28.4

|Jul record high C = 30.1

|Aug record high C = 29.2

|Sep record high C = 25.3

|Oct record high C = 21.7

|Nov record high C = 16.1

|Dec record high C = 15.6

|Jan record low C = -22.3

|Feb record low C = -25.0

|Mar record low C = -21.7

|Apr record low C = -10.0

|May record low C = -6.4

|Jun record low C = -3.1

|Jul record low C = -1.0

|Aug record low C = -2.0

|Sep record low C = -5.0

|Oct record low C = -9.7

|Nov record low C = -22.1

|Dec record low C = -27.2

|year record low C=

| Jan high C = 6.5

| Feb high C = 7.0

| Mar high C = 8.6

| Apr high C = 11.4

| May high C = 14.3

| Jun high C = 16.2

| Jul high C = 18.0

| Aug high C = 17.8

| Sep high C = 15.9

| Oct high C = 12.3

| Nov high C = 8.9

| Dec high C = 6.5

| year high C =

|Jan mean C = 3.1

|Feb mean C = 3.3

|Mar mean C = 4.7

|Apr mean C = 6.9

|May mean C = 9.2

|Jun mean C = 11.8

|Jul mean C = 13.8

|Aug mean C = 13.6

|Sep mean C = 11.6

|Oct mean C = 8.5

|Nov mean C = 5.3

|Dec mean C = 2.9

|year mean C =

| Jan low C = -0.3

| Feb low C = -0.5

| Mar low C = 0.8

| Apr low C = 2.4

| May low C = 4.2

| Jun low C = 7.4

| Jul low C = 9.6

| Aug low C = 9.3

| Sep low C = 7.3

| Oct low C = 4.7

| Nov low C = 1.8

| Dec low C = -0.6

| year low C =

| Jan rain mm = 139.9

| Feb rain mm = 110.8

| Mar rain mm = 99.1

| Apr rain mm = 76.4

| May rain mm = 71.7

| Jun rain mm = 63.0

| Jul rain mm = 62.4

| Aug rain mm = 75.1

| Sep rain mm = 92.3

| Oct rain mm = 130.9

| Nov rain mm = 128.9

| Dec rain mm = 136.1

| year rain mm = 1186.4

| unit rain days = 1 mm

| Jan rain days = 19.8

| Feb rain days = 17.9

| Mar rain days = 17.8

| Apr rain days = 15.1

| May rain days = 13.9

| Jun rain days = 13.0

| Jul rain days = 13.0

| Aug rain days = 14.2

| Sep rain days = 14.9

| Oct rain days = 18.8

| Nov rain days = 19.0

| Dec rain days = 19.3

| year rain days = 196.6

| Jan sun = 28.8

| Feb sun = 61.1

| Mar sun = 107.5

| Apr sun = 132.3

| May sun = 171.9

| Jun sun = 128.4

| Jul sun = 128.6

| Aug sun = 122.3

| Sep sun = 101.7

| Oct sun = 71.5

| Nov sun = 37.9

| Dec sun = 20.3

| year sun = 1112.2

|source 1 = Met Office{{cite web |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gfkgdgj2j |title=Altnaharra SAWS climate |publisher=Met Office |access-date=29 September 2015}}

|source 2 = En.tutiempo{{cite web |url=https://en.tutiempo.net/climate/ws-30440.html |title=Climate Altnaharra NO2 - Climate data (30440) |first=Tutiempo Network |last=S.L |website=tutiempo.net}}

|date= October 2016

}}

• Linda Norgrove (1974–2010), kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and killed by a US grenade during a rescue effort, was born in Altnaharra.{{cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Peter |date=9 October 2010 |title=Linda Norgrove profile: aid worker was in love with Afghanistan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/09/linda-norgrove-profile-aid-worker |work=The Guardian |access-date=17 January 2024}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/observation/gfkgdgj2j Met Office – Altnaharra: latest observations]
• [http://www.altnaharra.com Altnaharra Hotel]
• [https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/altnaharra/altnaharra/index.html Altnaharra page from Undiscovered Scotland]
• [https://www.altnaharra.net/local-area-around-altnaharra_b_b-nc500/ Former Bed and Breakfast in Altnaharra (now closed) with more local history.]
• {{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Populated places in Sutherland

Category:Parish of Farr