What to wear in Edinburgh in December? It’s been a question posed since time immemorial, or at least when I started this series back in January. It’s been a long series of weather related warnings and a lot of fairly similar suggestions for places to go, but I felt a need to do it monthly rather than by season. Dress for the month, not the season. After all, Edinburgh is famously a place of “meteorological purgatory” and it requires a subtle hand and eye to analyse. So what to wear in Edinburgh in December? Let’s explore together!
The Trusty Barometer of the Past – What to Wear in Edinburgh Historically
The past can be a predictor of the future, or it can just tell us where we went wrong before. Regardless, it’s pretty useful for weather.
There’s a handy table here showing the temperature. As you can see, it’s a pretty low and higher than average rainfall relative to the rest of the year.
Quicky handy conversion guide for Americans
For temperature, double it, add 37 then say “damn, that’s nothin’ compare to the Midwest”. Make sure to wear a hat that says what state you’re from. You guys are adorable.
1 inch is 25 mm. I have nothing cute to say about that.
December in General
You might be tempted to wear coats and carry umbrellas. I will not dissuade you from the coats on this instance. Those are extremely useful in the overall coldness we experienced. They are also good against rain and wind. Umbrellas however are completely useless. High winds are a staple of Edinburgh. I’ve seen winds strip an umbrella clean, leaving the metal bare like a Looney Tunes short. The only umbrellas worth anything are specialty golf umbrellas as those have extra buttresses to survive cross winds.
The crap umbrellas you find in Royal Mile souvenir shops are destined for landfill, or to shoot someone’s eye out (Christmas Story style) when they inevitably fly away.
Temperature is just a number (that tells you how cold it is)
The best thing to remember is it’s never about how mercury or water feels, it’s how you feel. Many weather apps will say what conditions feel like in terms of temperature and these help you to plan accordingly.
Storms in Edinburgh
This December we’re due storms. The idea of naming storms, at first looked on as a vulgar Americanism, has become pretty well known and useful. It draws attention to more serious weather conditions and helps many to get a day off work. Though not us at the Street Historians, unless it’s ultra serious weather warnings and guests will be warned and cancelled. It’s handy to know what’s up and remember, no holiday or walking tour is worth your life.
At the time of writing, we have Storm Bram. There are warnings about potential risk to life in Scotland, though these are due to end on Wednesday at 3am. Still, high winds have been known to close Edinburgh Castle. The National Museum of Scotland tends to remain open except the roof terrace.
Always keep abreast of what is coming down the pipeline as further predictions are likely.
Special apparatus to wear in Edinburgh in December
There are two specialty items which might be worth considering.
Rain Ponchos
During substantial rains, you can avoid complete drenching with a rain poncho. These are fairly inexpensive, even on the Royal Mile, relative to having an entire outfit decommissioned for a day or more. They do look ridiculous because it’s not exactly Niagara Falls, here, but certainly worth considering.
Tights
Or hose if you’re a Yank. These are pretty cheap and will do the business for staying warm. Supermarkets have them. Examples of supermarkets you’ll find in Edinburgh, Scotmid, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Lidl. For men who are unused to buying tights, the number indicates how heavy they are. Higher is warmer but I’ve found even low numbers have a massive impact.
Christmas Jumpers
I love Christmas so I always dress very seasonally appropriate. To join me, your best bet is either Primark, large supermarkets outside the city centre, or alternatively charity shops on South Bridge seem to stock them.
Where to Find What to Wear in Edinburgh in December
I’ve already peppered in a bit of advice across but here’s a simple list.
- Primark, for your quickest one stop shop for everything. If you’re especially cold, get the fleece-lined tights.
- St James Quarter, covered shopping centre with several shops to explore including big brands.
- Charity shops along South Bridge and Nicholson Street can be great if you’re ringing wet and need clothes quick in the Old Town.
- For anything else, take a look at our recommendations page and remember to spend lots of time in pubs and cafes during the worst of it. I believe the best times in Edinburgh in Winter are there.
Conclusion
What else is there to say? This series has been a fun addition to my growing website and I hope to further expand and update these posts as the years go on. A fair amount of work goes into putting these articles out there and I believe it’s of continuing relevance because even in a world where content is increasingly sloppy AI, a bot cannot feel. Therefore it cannot actually know what you need to wear. That’s why people trust us to tell them good advice and that’s why I’ve persisted. If you enjoyed it, make sure to read two or three other things I’ve written this year, subscribe, add me on instagram, etc, all that good stuff. But for now, I wish you a very joyous Nollaig (Scots Gaelic for Christmas).
Unless I wrote multiple other things before then because I am hyped again.
The writer of this piece had coffee at 5pm (it’s now 11pm), can you tell?
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