Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
298km²
Area
435km
Coastline
334m
Highest point
1,254
People
14°C
Warmest sea
August
755km
To the mainland
When to go to North Uist
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.
Island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, UK
North Uist is an island in United Kingdom. It belongs to Outer Hebrides. It covers 298 km², with 435 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 334 m. About 1,254 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 755 km away.
Getting there
- Benbecula Airport (BEB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 13 km in a straight lineCar hire at INV airport (Inverness)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- FerriesUig - Lochmaddy
- 755 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 North Uist.
- 62beachesCladach Mòr, Tràigh Iar, Tràigh Udal and 59 more
- 1viewpointsSt Kilda Viewpoint
- 1lighthouses
- 2marinasLochmaddy, Lochmaddy Marina
- 58named peaksEaval, South Lee, North Lee and 55 more
- 1,275ruins and archaeological sitesPobull Fhinn, The False Men, Beisteans Grave and Leac Alasdair and 1,272 more
- 6waymarked walking routesHebridean Way (Hiking), Carinish Crofting Woodland Path, North Lee Walk and 3 more
- 3campsitesClachan Sands Camping Area, Moorcroft Campsite and Bunkhouse, Balranald Hebridean Holidays
- 38hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 6restaurants, 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
North Uist in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside North Uist, each with its own numbers.
7lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
2.5km²
Loch Obisary
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
17.4°C
Loch nan Gobhar
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
7 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Loch Obisary2.5km²
- Loch nan Geireann1.4km²
- Loch 'ic Colla1.3km²
- Loch Sgadabhagh1.1km²
- Loch nan Eun0.88km²
- Loch Fada0.80km²
- Loch nan Gobhar0.21km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 26 m above the sea. 99 % of it is below 200 m.
- 85 %0–50 m
- 14 %50–200 m
- <1 %200–500 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.
20 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Isle of North Uist1,271 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 9 |
| Night low (°C) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 |
| Sea (°C) | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 151 | 109 | 101 | 72 | 81 | 82 | 102 | 115 | 112 | 143 | 138 | 149 |
| Wet days | 23 | 20 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 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) | 38 | 36 | 32 | 27 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 25 | 30 | 33 | 36 | 37 |
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 | +0.1 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.3 |
| 2021 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +1.3 | +0.8 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.7 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.9 | +0.5 | +1.0 | +1.0 |
| 2023 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.9 | +1.4 | +1.4 | +1.2 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.4 |
| 2024 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +1.5 | −0.2 | −0.2 | −0.5 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.3 |
| 2025 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +1.4 | +1.8 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +1.0 | +0.7 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Benbecula
United Kingdom76 km²124 m17 km away
South UistUnited Kingdom305 km²620 m37 km away
Isle of SkyeUnited Kingdom1,628 km²993 m68 km away
Lewis and HarrisUnited Kingdom2,138 km²714 m82 km away
BarraUnited Kingdom58 km²383 m69 km away
Great BerneraUnited Kingdom20 km²77 m76 km away
CannaUnited Kingdom11 km²208 m77 km away
Isle of RaasayUnited Kingdom62 km²443 m81 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q662158) · 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 | Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; 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
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