Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
20.3km²
Area
61km
Coastline
77m
Highest point
252
People
14°C
Warmest sea
August
714km
To the mainland
When to go to Great Bernera
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (14 °C) and coolest in March (8 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island off the Isle of Lewis, Scotland
Great Bernera is an island in United Kingdom. It belongs to Outer Hebrides. It covers 20.3 km², with 61 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 77 m. About 252 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 714 km away.
Getting there
- Stornoway Airport (SYY)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 30 km in a straight lineCar hire at INV airport (Inverness)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 714 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Great Bernera.
- 13beachesTràigh Bhostaidh and 12 more
- 107ruins and archaeological sitesIron Age Settlement, Callanish VIII, Croir Standing Stone and 104 more
- 1waymarked walking routesGreat Bernera Walk
- 1restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 24 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 93 %0–50 m
- 7 %50–200 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
5 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| Night low (°C) | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 |
| Sea (°C) | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
| Rain (mm) | 153 | 116 | 110 | 82 | 96 | 98 | 121 | 131 | 126 | 153 | 143 | 151 |
| Wet days | 23 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 23 | 24 | 23 |
| Sun h/day | 0.1 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 5.5 | 6.8 | 6.1 | 5.5 | 4.9 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Wind (km/h) | 36 | 33 | 31 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 29 | 31 | 33 | 34 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.1 |
| 2021 | +0.1 | −0.3 | +0.3 | +0.2 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.9 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.2 | ±0.0 |
| 2022 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.7 | −0.1 | +0.2 | +1.0 | +0.7 | +0.9 | +1.0 |
| 2023 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +1.8 | +1.4 | +1.5 | +1.4 | +0.7 | +0.5 | +0.3 |
| 2024 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.7 | +0.7 | +1.6 | −0.2 | −0.4 | −0.5 | −0.1 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.4 |
| 2025 | +0.7 | +1.0 | +0.9 | +1.3 | +1.5 | +0.6 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +1.0 | +0.7 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Lewis and Harris
United Kingdom2,138 km²714 m11 km away
North UistUnited Kingdom298 km²334 m76 km away
Isle of SkyeUnited Kingdom1,628 km²993 m103 km away
BenbeculaUnited Kingdom76 km²124 m92 km away
South UistUnited Kingdom305 km²620 m111 km away
Isle of RaasayUnited Kingdom62 km²443 m104 km away
BarraUnited Kingdom58 km²383 m143 km away
RùmUnited Kingdom107 km²812 m140 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q496364) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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