Scottish midges - when and where
I live in the Easter Ross area of the Highlands. But generally, for whole of Scotland end of May to end of September is midge 'season'.
One of the best sites I use to help on midge levels & where they are worse is The Scottish Midge Forecast.
One of the best sites I use to help on midge levels & where they are worse is The Scottish Midge Forecast.
Brian anywhere near water sea or fresh or moving or still is a NO GO area if you want to avoid them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the West coast is for sure worse than the East coasts Use Avon skin so soft as a repelant believe me it beats all the other so called repelants hands down :_)
A bit more here Midges Some people swear by Avon skin so soft but for me and Sue it did no good at all. We spend a lot of time out in midge country and find Mosi-guard works for us.
I live in the east of Scotland and there are not really much of a problem here. The west, is a different matter, however. They can really make life difficult as there are just so many of them and you have no escape. Places I have been that have been utterly terrible because of them (yet staggeringly beautiful) are Loch Lomond, The Trossachs, Skye, Torridon. Don't let it put you off though because the beauty of the countryside is worth the discomfort. Take a variety of repellents and consider taking taking up pipe/cigar smoking for the duration of the visit. 
a bit drastic but.....
west coast came back last week well bitten
Quote:You do not even have to go to Scotland to get attacked by the Midges - I was at Keilder Water in Northumberland the other day and I got eaten by the damn things!
Indeed you don't! Even the New Forest has the little darlings...................not in the swarms that I have experienced on Skye, for example; but plenty enough to irritate a photographer!
Why is it that their bites seem relatively innocuous at the time but drive you crazy a day later!!
I visit Argyle every year in May apart from the couple of visite like you to .Rowardennan.
Midges are a problem for most although not all get pestered or bitten apparently from the scent we each give off.
Perfect conditions are no wind and warm air around water.
It is in damp places that midges live and any wind clears them away which is why high ground is fairly safe.
The Highlands west coast suffers the most which is where any photographer worth his salt should be.
Repellants such as `skin so soft` work for most. with Citronella being another often used as a base for others.
Unless you spend spend hours in one spot you should be just fine. Camping and fishing puts you at most risk.
The lowlands and east coast are said to be mostly free of them although even in England they can be found given the right conditions.
Midges are a problem for most although not all get pestered or bitten apparently from the scent we each give off.
Perfect conditions are no wind and warm air around water.
It is in damp places that midges live and any wind clears them away which is why high ground is fairly safe.
The Highlands west coast suffers the most which is where any photographer worth his salt should be.
Repellants such as `skin so soft` work for most. with Citronella being another often used as a base for others.
Unless you spend spend hours in one spot you should be just fine. Camping and fishing puts you at most risk.
The lowlands and east coast are said to be mostly free of them although even in England they can be found given the right conditions.
Quote:So what's the best thing to use if you do get bitten?
Avoid getting bitten in the first place even if you look a plonker.
IF you do allow yourself to become midge food I suggest surgically removing the affected body part - even without an anaesthetic - it will cause less irritation!
Its absolutly impossible to avoid getting bitten !!!!!!! remember the wee things get into all kinds of cloth and materials that our cloths are made of, so we wrap up and wear all sorts of stuff then get home/hotel etc and strip off and dump our cloths on the floor. = billions of midgies INSIDE your room in no time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!= a bad bad night :-( So if you are in a midgie area and getting undressed for showers/changing etc try to put cloths in a black bag and seal it, or strip outside !!!!!!!! and leave your cloths there. 
It never ever ceased to amaze me at Rowardennan why people could not understand how they got into a s ealed bedroom etc ??? Cloths all over the place.
It never ever ceased to amaze me at Rowardennan why people could not understand how they got into a s ealed bedroom etc ??? Cloths all over the place.
