If you’re a Shetlander or know any Shetlanders, you’ll know how obsessed we are with the weather here. Shetland isn’t somewhere you visit searching for good weather; however, chatting about the weather and the light is intrinsically rooted in our culture. From getting excited about the wind and how it is good for drying the washing, to chasing the sun at the end of the day to watch it set behind the horizon, as the sky sets on fire.
Sitting at 60N, Shetland has very long and dark winters, with as little as 5 hours daylight on the shortest days, we keep busy and fill our days and evenings with community-based events such as Up Helly Aa. The flip side of this is that it literally doesn’t get dark in the summer months. It’s possibly my favourite thing about Shetland, I say that tentatively as I have a lot of favourite things, but it’s definitely in the top 3, (we’ll maybe write another blog about the top ten someday)
It's hard to waste the daylight and fine weather during those months, and I’m an advocate for spending as much time outside during a Shetland Summer, even if that means you’re still wearing your North Face coat.
My favourite outdoor activities are walking, hiking, sea swimming, attending the Haar sauna sessions, and drinking cups of tea somewhere/anywhere while I watch the sun set. All of which I highly recommend if you’re visiting the Isles.
You can book the Haar Sauna here... Sauna time
If you're looking for an interesting hike you shoud book our friend Jon as a tour guide, you can do that here.. Adventure Shetland tours
April sees the light return; the clocks have changed, Up Helly season has burnt all the Galleys, the puffins are back, Mr Stripey is back out selling Ice cream. The sea temperature is at the coldest it’s been all year, but the sky is brighter for longer, and we’ve time to spend in daylight once the working day has finished.
Spring brings with it a newly found excitement; screaming things like “it’s still daylight!”, “there’s a baaaaby lamb” and “waaah! Have you seen the sky?”
Last weekend I headed up to the Eshaness cliffs to enjoy the fine night, watched the sunset, drank my tea and then chilled in the car until it got dark… as we’re not quite in summer yet we can enjoy both the joy of a sunset, and ALSO the northern lights. I was not disappointed as I had been watching the Aurora UK alerts through the day and knew if the sky was clear I’d be treat to a good show.
You might think you can watch a sunset anywhere, but the light hits differently this far North and should be admired for all of its glory.
These stunning sky scenes are the inspiration for many of our most popular ranges. It all began with the Mirrie Dancer pieces, inspired by the Northern lights in all their splendour, and from there we curated a beautiful selection of Shetland Skyscape colours to be enamelled into our jewellery. The idea of putting these colours into our pieces created something very special in our jewellery. They make a great keepsake for a Shetlander or Visitor alike… Whether they’re based on your favourite place or a reminder of those beautiful skies and stunning Shetland Light.
You can view the collection and choose your sky colours here
The Shetland Jewellery team are all busy filming day in the life of videos for Tiktok, If you're keen to see more of life in Shetland and at Shetland Jewellery, go give us a follow here.. tiktok.com/@shetlandjewellery
