United KingdomInner HebridesIsland
Isle of Skye
1,628 km² rising to 993 m out of the Sea of the Hebrides.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
1,628km²
Area
702km
Coastline
993m
Highest point
Sgùrr Alasdair
10,008
People
14°C
Warmest sea
August
672km
To the mainland
When to go to Isle of Skye
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (14 °C) and coolest in March (8 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Largest and most northerly large island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland
Isle of Skye is an island in United Kingdom. It belongs to Inner Hebrides. It covers 1,628 km², with 702 km of coastline. Its highest point, Sgùrr Alasdair, rises to 993 m. About 10,008 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 672 km away.
Getting there
- Benbecula Airport (BEB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 65 km in a straight lineCar hire at INV airport (Inverness)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesUig - Tarbert, Glenelg-Skye, Uig - Lochmaddy
- 672 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Isle of Skye.
- 42beachesCoral Beach, Tràigh Ostaig, Tràigh a' Chnuic and 39 more
- 48viewpointsKilt Rock Viewpoint, View Point, Viewpoint Skye Bridge and 45 more
- 5lighthousesSleat Point Lighthouse, Waternish Point, Neist Point Lighthouse and 2 more
- 7ferry terminalsGlenelg-Skye Ferry, Elgol Boat Trips, Uig Ferry Terminal and 4 more
- 3marinasPortree Harbour
- 313named peaksSgùrr Alasdair, The Inaccessible Pinnacle, Sgùrr Dearg and 310 more
- 92waterfallsEas Mòr, Eas Ban and 90 more
- 7castles and fortsDunvegan Castle, Castle Maol, Duntulm Castle and 4 more
- 6,347ruins and archaeological sitesBoreraig, Càrn Breac, Unish House and 6,344 more
- 24waymarked walking routesScorrybreac Circuit, Neist Point Lighthouse, Quiraing loop and 21 more
- 20campsitesSkye Eco Bells Glamping, Four motorhome and campervan overnight spaces, wild camping and 17 more
- 465hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 74restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Isle of Skye in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Isle of Skye, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
11lakesLakeyas
6waterfallsCascadyas
Largest lake
1.1km²
Loch Leathan
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
19.5°C
Loch Fada
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
13.6°C
Ollisdal Geo
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
11 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Loch Leathan1.1km²
- Loch Coruisk0.38km²
- Loch Fada0.30km²
- Loch Duagrich0.28km²
- Loch Mealt0.24km²
- Loch Ard0.22km²
- Loch Cill Chriosd0.21km²
- Loch Connan0.19km²
3 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
6 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Fairy Pools
- Eas Mòr
- Eas a' Bhradain
- Eas Aboist
- Bearreraig Waterfall
- Eas Tardil
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 162 m above the sea. 71 % of it is below 200 m.
- 17 %0–50 m
- 53 %50–200 m
- 27 %200–500 m
- 2 %500–1,000 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
50 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Portree2,310 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| Night low (°C) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 |
| Sea (°C) | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 170 | 123 | 119 | 82 | 96 | 96 | 112 | 129 | 134 | 159 | 151 | 168 |
| Wet days | 23 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| Sun h/day | 0.2 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 5.8 | 7.1 | 6.2 | 5.3 | 4.6 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Wind (km/h) | 32 | 30 | 28 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 21 | 25 | 27 | 30 | 31 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +1.0 | −0.1 | +0.3 | +0.2 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | −0.2 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.3 |
| 2022 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +1.1 | +1.0 |
| 2023 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +1.1 | +1.0 | +1.7 | +1.2 | +1.3 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.4 |
| 2024 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +1.5 | −0.4 | −0.4 | −0.5 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
| 2025 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +1.5 | +1.6 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +1.0 | +0.6 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Isle of RaasayUnited Kingdom62 km²443 m17 km away
RùmUnited Kingdom107 km²812 m39 km away
CannaUnited Kingdom11 km²208 m36 km away
South UistUnited Kingdom305 km²620 m62 km away
BenbeculaUnited Kingdom76 km²124 m62 km away
EiggUnited Kingdom30 km²393 m51 km away
Eilean DonanUnited Kingdom0.01 km²3 m48 km away
North UistUnited Kingdom298 km²334 m68 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q107393) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
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Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit