Well it's not long now until we re-open for the new 2010 season (Sat.13th Feb.)! We have had an eventful winter so far, as lots of people have. The water seems to be fine now after it freezing up in the stream and in the pipes to the chalets. Hopefully no more really cold weather!! Although the skiing is still doing well with fresh snow falls yesterday and Sunday. www.nevisrange.co.uk/ It is a bright and sunny day today, so ideal conditions!

We went out for a bike ride on Sunday around the shores of Loch Linnhe, we started out in blue sky at lunch time and ended up in a blizzard in the afternoon,just shows how quickly the weather can change.

It was a beautiful afternoon and the views to the mountains and over to the Ben was just breath taking.



Bishops Bay just down the road at North Ballachulish, the tide was well out and its not often you can walk out to the small island, this is due to the spring tides brought on by the full moon. This picture shows the view over the bay to Glencoe.



We are fully booked for the week beg.Sat.13th Feb.2010 but have plenty of availability after then. Easter is nearly full so if you are thinking of taking a trip then, get in touch for availability www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk

Happy New Year to everyone! We hope you have a very Happy & Healthy 2010!

Our guests who stayed with us over Hogmany and into the New Year had some stunning weather, bright blue skies and snow covered mountains. Here are some pictures of some guests actually fishing in the Loch.





As you can see by these pictures it is very clear but very cold! The temperatures haven't got above freezing for about 3 weeks now and we are starting to see the consequences with frozen pipes and the risk of running out of water is getting closer. The stream where we get our water from is freezing up, most of our neighbours who are on a private water supply have also ran out! It is not expected to get any better over the next few weeks.
Everyone around the country seems to be suffering and I think compared to some areas, particularly the East coast we have come off quite lightly. Although there is a lot of snow on the ground most of that has been frozen for a couple of weeks and we have not had much new snow, so the main roads are clear.

Some people very happy about the weather conditions are the Ski centres, Nevis Range reporting a great ski season so far www.nevisrange.co.uk Have a look at their site for all the details of the conditions and various runs.

Hope everyone keeps warm and we look forward to seeing many of you in the coming year.

Hello Everyone!
Hope things aren't too stressful in the run up to Christmas! We re-open the chalets today (20th Dec.) for the Festive period. We have been closed for 6 weeks and managed to get a little holiday ourselves within that time but it was soon time to come home and get organised for our guests arriving.









Here are some pictures taken last night at dusk and then some from behind the chalets taken this morning. It just looks stunning!





Well for those making the journey to the West coast today it will be a cold and snowy one, so take it easy! We woke up this morning to several inches of "white stuff" and nice blue skies. Ian is outside as I type this, clearing the drive and chalet paths.


If you fancy doing some skiing when you are up, go to the Nevis Range website for all the details and what runs are open. We expect more snow over the next few days and they say some of the runs should be open tomorrow www.nevisrange.co.uk


It's been a fairly busy year at Loch Leven Holidays, with the wet summer not putting too many people off! We would like to thank everyone who has stayed with us in 2009 and look forward to seeing many of you next year. We wish all our guests a very Happy Christmas and Healthy 2010!

We close the chalets on Sun.3rd Jan.2010 and re-open on Sat.13th Feb.2010, give us a ring if you fancy a winter break away next Feb/March 01855 821272. www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk

We had the Fisher and Reed famililies from Sussex staying in the chalets last week, it is there 2nd visit and they said they would be back next year! They had a great week and they took some photographs for us to display. These 2 are of Glen Etive, showing very moody skies.










These are of Loch Leven, with the chalet park in the distance.





















The next picture is of Signal rock forest in Glencoe and some cheeky Pinemarten on the chalet balcony!


















The final picture is of Glencoe Lochan, showing stunning views and clear skies.





Thanks to Lewis Fisher for taking these pictures, they are fantastic and show the area at its best. Whether its sunny, wet, dull or bright, the scenery is spectacular
and there is always plenty to do and see.

Give us a ring (01855 821272) or check or website for information www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk

Now that the area is getting quieter we decided to have a day out to Mull, we love going to Mull, it's easy to get to and lovely for a walk and a bit of Eagle watching. We set off on Monday morning and the weather was fantastic, bright and cold! We caught the Corran Ferry across to Ardgour http://www.lochabertransport.org.uk and then travelled to Lochaline on Ardnamurchan, this takes about 45 mins from Ardgour. This is an easier and cheaper option than going from Oban, the ferry then only takes about 15 mins to get to Fishnish on Mull. www.calmac.co.uk

When we arrived it was nearly lunch time so we thought we would visit Mull Pottery http://www.mullpottery.com/ which has a lovely cafe just outside Tobermory. Fishnish is about 20 mins from Tobermory. We enjoyed a fabulous homemade bowl of soup which set us up for the afternoon. We then had a walk around Tobermory watching the boats come in and out of the harbour. The weather had changed a bit and was cold and wet but this didn't put us off.

We headed North West through Dervaig onto the rugged West Coast where there are magnificent views looking out to The Trishnish Islands, Coll and Staffa. The road hugs the coastline and the scenery is fantastic. We drove through Calgary where there is a superb picnic spot on a sandy beach, to the right you can see Gometra and the Ulva Islands.
A stop at Eas Fors waterfall is a must, the water plummets 100s of feet and is only a short walk from the road. Continuing on to Grulin and then to Salen takes you back to the ferry at Fishnish.
This route is ideal for spotting the Sea Eagles, unfortunately this time we didn't spot any, although we did see a pair of Eagles on our way back to the ferry. They are stunning birds and we watched the for ages!!

We had a lovely day and Mull is well worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

There is always something to photograph in and around Loch Leven Holidays, so here are a few recent ones.

We had a lovely walk around the Glencoe Lochan one evening last week, the day had been bright and sunny and the sun was just starting to go down, as you can see from these pictures. The water was flat calm and there was a lovely reflection of the Pap of Glencoe mountain.
The pictures of Loch Leven and Tiranui Cottage were also taken that evening as the sun was setting.

The pinemarten pictures were taken by one of our guests from inside the chalet, they said the pinemarten was very tame and even ate some bread from his hand. As you can see in one picture it is enjoying some cornflakes and in another some jam & bread!

The weather has become more Autumnil in the last few days and the light for photographs is fantastic. We are starting to see the leaves come off the trees and its getting darker earlier in the evening. It is a lovely time to visit the area, with the children back at school it is quieter round and about.
Why not give us a ring if you fancy a short break 01855 821272 www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk

What would us Brits do if we didn't have the weather to talk and moan about?? Is the weather in the UK and particularly the West Coast of Scotland as bad as we are lead to believe.

Well in a word YES, it has been the last couple of months.
Here are a few of the statistics we collected at Loch Leven Holidays from our "very professional" weather monitoring station!!!

The monthly rainfall from last October to the end of August is as follows in millimetres:




Oct.08 - 282mm
Nov.08 - 168mm
Dec.08 - 172mm
Jan.09 - 101mm
Feb.09 - 155mm
Mar.09 - 138mm
Apr.09 - 151mm
May 09 - 107mm
Jun.09 - 101mm
Jul.09 - 166mm
Aug.09 - 282mm !!!!!!!!!

Well as you can see August was very wet and July wasn't great either. The August figure is double what it was for last August. May & June were lovely months with not much rain and some glorious sunny days.

The 30th of June 09 gave us our hottest day of the year with the temperatures reaching a scorching 30.1 degrees.
In comparison, the average day time temperature in August was only 16 degrees and the night time temp dropped to 11.8 degrees.
The average for the summer (June/July & August) only reached a very poor 15.2 degrees!!

The coldest day in the last 12 months was on the 30th November 2008 and tempertures dropped to -5.9 degrees. A bit of a surprise to us, as we expected it to be colder in Jan or Feb.



And so what about the winds!!!

Based on the Beaufort Scale 1 = 0 - 4.6 miles per hour
2 = 4.6- 8.1 mph
3 = 8.1-12.7 mph
4 = 12.7-18.4 mph
5 = 18.4-25.3 mph

48.9% of the winds from Oct.08 to Aug.09 were a 1 (0-4.6 mph)
19.4% were a 2
7.6% were a 3
3.1% were a 4
0.6% were a 5

So is it true the Seasons are changing and we are getting much wetter and warmer weather. Not sure about the warmer but certainly wetter this summer! The good weather seems to be arriving earlier in the year April/May June and we are getting more Autumnial weather in the traditional summer months. So it may be we need to take our holidays a bit earlier www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk

It will be interesting to see what the next few months bring, and wether we get an Indian summer!!