Have you ever wondered if the weather in the West Highlands of Scotland is as bad as you thought or are you trying to decide whether its worth a trip to the West Highlands.

Well thanks to our on site weather station here at Loch Leven Holidays www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk we can give you some facts about the sun, rain, wind etc over the last few months.

We had one of the driest springs on record, our statistics tells us from the 11th March to 11th May, a 3 month period we only had 110mm of rain. From the 11th May to 10th June we say 24 mm giving and average of 33 mm of rain per month, only a quarter of the normal rain fall for that period.
From the 11th June to the 10th of July, however, it has been wetter, showing a monthly total of 134 mm, which is average for this time of year but unusually the rain fell in heavy, short, sharp showers, which has continued the trend of the feeling of good weather.

From an average daily temp of 6 degrees in March, we climbed to a average high of 18 degrees throughout May, dropping back to 16 degrees for June & July so far.

During this 5 month period 67% of the wind has been below 4.6 miles per hour and we have only experienced 2 windy days, where the average speed has hit 25 miles an hour, force 5 of the Beaufort Scale.

Although our weather station does not keep sunshine records (as yet), we have experienced very bright clear weather as unusually
2/3s of the wind has been from the East, keeping the Atlantic cloud away.

Well hopefully this has made you realise you can't believe everything you hear on the BBC weather forecast!!!!

Tiranui Cottage

If all this talk of a credit crunch is making you a bit nervous about money, why not come and stay with us and we will give you a fantastic 20% off our luxury cottage.

Tiranui Cottage sleeps up to 8 people but is still very comfortable and cosy if there are only 2 of you! It has 1 double ensuite room, 1 double and 2 twin rooms with another bathroom and toilet. It is fully fitted to a high standard and enjoys exceptional views of Loch Leven and the Glencoe mountains beyond.

It is available for the weeks beg. Sat.21st & 28th June, 5th, 12th & 19th July 2008. Normal price for June is £780 but is now £624 saving £156 and July is normally £950 is now £760 saving £190.

Why not give us a ring 01855 821272 or send us an email enquiries@glencoeselfcatering.co.uk we will be happy to answer any questions you may have. You can have alook at the cottage on our website, where there is a virtual tour and lots of pics! www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk

Last week Ian & I went on the Loch Lomond Sea Plane from Oban to Glasgow, it was a fantastic Christmas present from my Mum.
What an amazing trip!!!! It is highly recommended, we left Oban at 12 noon although it normally leaves at 10am. You get a boat out of Oban Bay to the plane. The weather was perfect bright and sunny and there were only 3 passengers including us onboard.
As we took off and left Oban there was a big cruise ship moored in the bay, so we flew over that, it was brillant!!!
The captain asked us if we minded landing on Loch Lomond to refuel, what a question!!!! It was a brillant bonus taking off and landing twice and the views over Loch Lomond on such a stunning day were out of this world. We landed on the River Clyde in Glasgow just about 1pm. We decided we would stay the night in Glasgow and return the next day but you can do it all in one day if you wish.

Coming back was just as amazing although it was a bit duller but it didn't spoil the trip. We had another bonus on the way back, there were 2 passengers going to Tobermory in Mull so the captain decided to go there first then back to Oban. Coming into Tobermory Bay was fantastic with all the coloured houses, it gives you a completely different perspective on somewhere. So another take off and we were on our way back to Oban.

The experience was something you would never forget, it costs £149 for a return ticket per adult & £110 per child, it is well worth saving your pennies to do! You get such a different view form the sky! http://www.lochlomondseaplanes.com

The weather has been fantastic the last couple of weeks, with bright blue skies and sunshine, we have been spoiled!!! It has been quite cold with still a lot of snow about on the hills and the skiing at Glencoe and Anoch Mor
(http://www.nevisrange.co.uk) resorts has been some of the best in 10 years. The scenery has been spectacular with plenty of lovely daffodils cheering us all up. Still no sign of any leaves on the trees but it is sure to start warming up and they will appear soon.

This is a lovely time to visit the area with the fields full of new lambs and the light nights stretching to about 8.30pm, it gives you plenty to look at and the time to do it. The wildlife is out and about around the site with the Pinemarten making a few appearances on the balconies to get his bread and honey and the Red Squirrel making the most of the full nut feeders.
(http://www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk)

Ian has been busy building a new rockery in front of Salmon chalet, so hopefully by next year the heathers and schrubs will start to flourish. He is also busy putting new roof tiles on all the chalets, so thats keeping him busy!!!

This season looks as if it is going to be a busy one with the diary filling up quickly, so if you are thinking of coming for a visit give us a ring, email at enquiries@glencoeselfcatering.co.uk or check the website for details on availability
we would love to see you!

We have just finished reviewing all our Customer comments from the comment cards which are completed each week by our guests for 2007.

The results are fantastic with 100% of the guests who completed the forms happy with their stay at Loch Leven Holidays and met or exceeded their expectations. Customers felt our attitude was very friendly & helpful and the welcome on arrival was excellent.

They said the accommodation was very clean, comfortable, spacious and homely. A few people commented on the need for a more powerful shower, sky tv and internet access but on the whole most people were more than satisfied with the facilities and understood that the location ie. private water supply sometimes limited us to what we could provide. Internet access and Sky tv or freeview will be things we will certainly do in the future.

On the whole everyone loved the location and views and agreed we had a 5 star location!

Some other interesting points that arose was the fact that 57% of customers found out about us from the internet that is an increase of 4% from 2006 and only 10% from the Freedom Brochure a decrease of 4% on 2006.

We thank all our customers who completed the comment cards and take on board the positive and negative comments and hopefully we can continue to give them an excellent level of accommodation and service. www.glencoeselfcatering.co.uk

Other information that we have collected over the year shows that there is almost an even split between couples and families staying with us and 30% of our business is from repeat guests (we must be doing something right!).
Approx. 75% of our visitors are from England, with most of our foreign visitors from Germany & The Netherlands.

Chalets re-open 9th Feb.2008

We are now closed until Sat.9th February 2008, but don't worry we are not away sunning ourselves on some foreign beach, this closure lets us thoroughly "spring clean" the chalets and do any maintenance required on them! We are currently replacing the roofs on all the chalets, so we are praying for some dry weather!!!! We are also re-decorating the bedrooms in the cottage and putting new furniture in them, so if you are planning a stay in Tiranui you should see some changes. A new sofa has also been ordered for the living room, hopefully this should come in March some time!

If you feel like a break in February after a dull and depressing January, why not visit us for a short break or even a full week! Short breaks can be enjoyed from as little as £185 for a minimum of 3 nights, depending on availability. We are full from 9th to 16th Feb. but still have availability from 16th!

February can be a great month to visit the Highlands, normally there is snow on the hills and if you enjoy skiing you might be lucky and get a chance to try out the slopes of Anoch Mor or Glencoe Ski resorts. If that is not your thing then relaxing in a cosy chalet looking out at the stunning views might appeal more!!

We have the Mountain Film Festival to look forward to from Fri.15th to Sat.23rd Feb.2008. This is always a brillant event, this year they have the first ever UK Slackmining Masters Contest, kayaking legend Corran Addison, mountaineer Kenton Cool, the Scottish premiere of US mountain biking film Klunkerz and legendery exhibition films. Go to the Website to find out more about the programme and tickets http://www.mountainfestival.co.uk



Give us a ring for more information on accommdation 01855 821272 or drop us an email enquiries@glencoeslefcatering.co.uk

Hope to see you soon!

These are some of the comments from the Brennan family who spent their 2nd Christmas with us at the chalets.

Emma: 2nd visit back to the chalets and we received the same warm welcome as before! The chalets are so homely and comfortable. The week has been fabulous again, although the weather a bit poorer this time, but even if we had to stay in the chalet all week we would never get bored of the spectacular view of the Loch.
We visited Ardnamurchan point www.ardnamurchan.com and saw many stags on route - magnificent!! We saw our old friend the otter playing in the Loch near his home and several eagles whilst driving up the coast. We will take some beautiful memories of the the Highlands home and hope to return again!

Rose: This is my first holiday for many years and I thank my family for bringing me! We received a lovely warm & friendly welcome, the accommodation is excellent and the views are breathtaking from the chalet.
The Highlands the views, Ben Nevis, the ferry, the drives, waterfalls, the quarry, the marvellous variety of stones, rocks & plants and the birds which are top of my list. The stags so regal & surveying!! I could go on forever about the beautiful memories I will take back home. We also had a lovely Christmas Dinner at the Ballachulish Hotel www.ballachulishhotel.com

Thank you Ian & Sharon. As for the Highlands you know my thoughts!!!!

Jasmine: We received a warm and friendly welcome and we settled in quickly. The weather was clear on arrival, with only a few clouds covering the mountains, the air was refreshing after travelling in a vehicle for so long.
We enjoyed our trip to Ardnamurchan Point (the most westerly point in the British Isles), beware if you go over there are tons of curlew on the roads!!