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Scottish Live Webcams
Armchair travel in Scotland is on the rise with the global pandemic. Although we live in Scotland we can’t currently visit anywhere further than a few miles walk from our home. I know that many international visitors will also be missing their trips to Scotland so I’ve made a list of all the working Scottish live webcams that I can find.
There are plenty of others that are not currently working and so I’ve not included those for the moment. Please do let me know if there are any other working Scottish live webcams that I can include. I’m sure there must be a few more out there!
Beaches, Rivers and Lochs
There are plenty of beaches, rivers and lochs around Scotland with webcams trained on them. It’s hard to decide a favourite, but I can think of plenty more that would be great to watch from a distance when we can’t leave the house!
Aberdeen Beach
For starters is the Aberdeen beach webcam which is mounted to the beach ballroom looking out to the North Sea. From here you can see along the beach itself as well as the promenade, watching people walking by or the waves rolling onto the beach.
Loch Morlich
Our very first camping trip with the kids was to the campsite beside Loch Morlich. So I was quite excited to see that there was a webcam beside Loch Morlich (not far from the campsite) where you can watch the waters washing over the sand. The Cairngorms standing proud in the distance.
Dunstaffanage Bay
At Dunstaffanage Bay there are several live webcams set up by the Scottish Association For Marine Science. You can choose from the view across Dunstaffanage Bay from their pontoon, a live view from under their pontoon, another live webcam on the sea floor and a final live webcam of their aquarium. Three cameras are HD, so they may take a bit longer load, but the pontoon and aquarium are easy to view.
Coldingham
Above is a picture of my eldest playing on Coldingham beach a few years ago (they love jumping in the waves and getting soaked!!), you can see the whole of Coldingham beach from St Veda Surfs webcam, beside the path. A great view over the expanse of beach, watching the easterlies bring in the surf.
River Earn
If you have ever visited the Perthshire town of Crieff, you will no doubt have noticed the River Earn running through. We usually enter the town from Muthill and go over the old stone bridge over the Earn. It’s the old bridge that can be seen in the live feed, the webcam situated at the Crieff caravan park just by the river.
River Forth, Stirling
We live near Stirling and so the river Forth is a common sight for us. It’s also well known for flooding and we frequently watch it spill over the banks into nearby fields just as you cross the river on the M9. The webcam on the river Forth is situated just to the East of the M9 on one of the areas that often floods, so could be fun to watch after heavy rain!
River Tweed at Traquair
Beside Traquair House there is a webcam where you can watch the gentle river Tweed flow past. It’s a wide section of the river which must be teeming with fish and other wildlife. You may also be lucky enough to see someone fishing!
Forth Bridges
The final webcam in this section is the camera located at the Forth Bridges viewpoint, with a panoramic view to see all 3 crossings. If you zoom out you can see the view in one, but you can also zoom in for more detail too. The feed does appear to stop live view around sunset and restart the following morning.
Mountains
Many of our mountain webcams are there for the ski season, however they still work throughout the year. Some of the Scottish live webcams are located further away giving you a great view of the mountains that Scotland is famous for!
Glencoe
The Scottish mountains are a place for inspiration for many. There are 12 different webcams at Glencoe, mostly meant for those checking out the snow cover for winter sports. However it’s still fun to see what they look like in the summer too! You can head across to Glencoe Mountain webcams over here.
Glenshee
The Spittal of Glenshee is a fantastic location to visit for walks in the summer as well as winter snow sports. You can check out the stunning area on the Spittal of Glenshee webcam here (you will need to manually refresh). The link also has working cameras for Cock Bridge and Glen Dye, although these are not at Glenshee they are stunning areas which also have snow gates.
Ben More
The Ben More webcam gives a beautiful view across to the summit of Ben More. A great opportunity to look at a Scottish munro throughout different weathers. The Ben More webcam is located over at Crianlarich and is definitely a good one to check out if you’re a hill walker.
Pentland Hills
We visited Eastside Cottages a couple of years ago and had a fantastic time there. The Pentland hills behind the cottages are perfect to climb up to get a view over the hills, to the farm or even across to Edinburgh. It is a working farm, so you will see plenty of sheep and farm worker around too. Although you might not be able to visit Eastside at the moment, you can still look at the Pentland Hills from the Eastside Cottages webcam (refreshes every minute).
Cairngorms
Look out at the stunning Cairngorms from the shores of Loch Morlich. The Cairngorm webcam from Loch Morlich is live and moves every few minutes between looking along the shore to the mountains and looking out toward the loch at the weather conditions.
Nevis Range
Another ski resort with webcams is Nevis Range with Ben Nevis visible, which provides good views down different ski runs as well as a camera with a view to the mountains themselves. Not as active during summer, but still interesting to watch through different weather.
Islands
Not every Scottish island has a webcam (it would be great if they did!), but I have found quite a few across the isles that you might enjoy to watch and experience the stunning vistas and small islands. Check out these great island Scottish live webcams below.
Shetland
There are plenty of cameras on Shetland, from the wildlife cameras (animal section below) to those around Lerwick (perfect to watch Up Helly-Aa Festival in January). There is a great live webcam at Lerwick harbour, where you can watch the boats manoeuvring in and out. The other webcams are located around Lerwick centre, including at the town hall, Victoria Pier, Market Cross and Esplanade. The Market Cross webcam is probably my favourite town centre camera.
Isle Of Cumbrae
The Isle of Cumbrae is just over the water from the Ayrshire coast, with ferries leaving from Largs. The main town on the island is at Millport and you can check out the view from the Millport webcam over the water from one of the shops on the seafront. It’s a pretty view and probably familiar to a lot of holiday goers.
North Uist
North Uist is a fantastic place to visit and another island we visited during our campervan trip last year. You can check out the North Uist webcam here, which show the view over the west of the island and automatically refreshes every 30 seconds.
Arran
You can view the Calmac harbour via the Arran live stream webcam, obviously getting busy around ferry arrivals and departures! The camera automatically zooms in and out to the harbour area, so you can get an idea of what is happening in the area.
Isle of Skye
Head over to Kyleakin on the Isle of Skye for a spectacular live webcam located on the White Heather Hotel. You can change the view by clicking on the bottom left and see views of Kyleakin, the hills and the castle. Definitely a great view if you love the Isle of Skye and it’s beautiful views!
Orkney
You can find several webcams on Orkney, including one at Kirkwall Harbour and another at Stromness Harbour. There used to be another camera on the barriers between two of the smaller islands, but it no longer appears to be working.
Berneray
The island of Berneray is located to the North of North Uist and is only 2 by 3 miles wide. There are two Berneray webcams located by Bays loch, one pans from dawn to dusk and then settles in one place overnight. The other is fixed and looks out across the sea, great for watch seabirds. A lovely clear view from a beautiful island.
Wildlife
Scotland is famed for it’s wildlife and so we are lucky to also have a lot of Scottish live webcams of wildlife to watch. There are several wild animals that you may be lucky to see, such as osprey, dolphins or red squirrels. But you can also check out the animals kept in captivity for conservation purposes at the zoo and safari park.
Ospreys
It’s always fun to watch Osprey’s fishing in our Scottish lochs, we were treated to a great display of Osprey’s fishing on the Lake of Mentieth one year! You can currently watch one Osprey family using the Woodland Trust osprey webcam at Loch Arkaig or check out the Loch of the Lowes Osprey webcam for a nesting pair of Ospreys.
Puffins
You can currently watch puffins on the Scottish Seabird Centre webcams at both Isle of May and Craigleith islands, although this a spring and summer webcam, puffins are out at sea for most of the year!
Seals
Also in Shetland you can watch the sea level webcam where there’s a good possibility of seeing seals. The ocean is often a bit choppy, but you can sometimes see seal heads bobbing up and down in the sea or watch them resting on the rocks. The camera frequently changes which direction it’s looking which adds some interest.
Loch Ness
Last year we went for a long weekend trip to Loch Ness and Urqhuart Castle as the children wanted to visit Nessie. Our youngest was determined we would see her and even made shortbread to feed her just like they did in his favourite Nessie book. Although we didn’t see Nessie he was sure he heard her munching the shortbread below the boat! If you’re a Nessie fan then check out the Loch Ness webcam, overlooking the beautiful loch. Maybe you’ll be lucky and catch a glimpse of Nessie!
Dolphins
My husband and I went to the University of Aberdeen when we were (a lot) younger. Whilst we lived there we didn’t realise we could actually see dolphins in the harbour! Our first time back with the kids and we headed out to Torry Battery to watch the dolphins frolic in the harbour entrance and it was fantastic. If you watch the Aberdeen harbour webcam you may be lucky to see dolphins, although they will probably be out a bit further toward the Torry Battery.
Edinburgh Zoo
We couldn’t miss the wonderful Edinburgh Zoo webcams in our list. There are 6 different webcams to choose from, the kids and I were excited to watch the penguin webcam as we had just watched a documentary about penguins which the kids loved.
Of course one of the top zoo webcams at Edinburgh will be the giant pandas webcam. It’s in the inside section of the enclosure, which is often where you see them at the zoo. So it’s fun to watch the panda’s sleeping, stretching and very occasionally eating! They are leaving in late 2023 though, so it’s your last chance to see them!
The next zoo camera is another cuddly looking animal, the koala. On koala webcam we’ve been watching the koala’s sleeping during the day, although they do appear to move around a little more first thing in the morning! There is also a giraffe webcam where you can watch the giraffes eating their food.
Then you can move onto the lion webcam and watch the two adult lions with their 3 young cubs. They move around a fair amount and the cubs are pretty fun to watch! The other cat camera is the tiger webcam. Although we are yet to see the tigers on the webcam we’ve seen them several times when visiting the zoo. So they are definitely there!
Blairdrummond Safari Park
Blairdrummond Safari Park is a favourite haunt of ours each year, there are lots of great animal to see (the lemurs are a favourite) and a great play park for the kids. Whilst we can’t visit at the moment we can still watch the rhino and giraffe webcams. Both webcams are in the inside parts of the enclosures, so you may not see them during the day. Check in the morning before they go out for the day!
Seabirds
The Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick has several webcams available. One camera is situated at Craigleith, a small island with a variety of seabirds, including puffins, and the Isle of May, which is also famous for its puffins. The other cameras are on Bass Rock, where you can watch the majestic gannets and Dunbar Harbour, which has a Kittiwake camera, look out for them between February and August.
Badgers
We visited Caerlaverock WWT reserve with friends last year, there is a fantastic little self-catering cottage to stay on the site. Giving you access to the whole of the reserve even when everyone else has gone home. I actually worked there for a few months as a volunteer reading goose rings, which was a lot of fun. The reserve staff also put out peanuts and peanut butter for the badgers each day and you can watch the badgers from the glass fronted hide in the back of the cottage. Fortunately for those not able to get to Caerlaverock you can also watch the badgers on the live webcam. During the day you may also seem some ducks or other wetland birds.
Squirrels
The webcam at Balmoral Castle is great for watching red squirrels. You may have to watch it for a little while to see a squirrel, but when you do it’s pretty exciting! We saw a red squirrel jump onto the feeder to get food and then onto the webcam with it’s tail hanging down in front of the lens! An easy close up for the kids watch.
Snow Monkeys
The Highland Wildlife Park has a lot of different animals to see when you get a chance to visit, however only one webcam. The webcam is trained on the snow monkey enclosure and you can watch them interacting with each other. There’s a big pond for the monkeys to play in too, although we are yet to see them in there! Perhaps on a hot summers day?
Ancient Monuments
There’s a surprisingly low number of Scottish live webcams at our ancient monuments. I had hoped for one near Callanish or Brodgar and definitely more at castles around Scotland. But unfortunately I could only find the two webcams for Eilean Donan Castle and one webcam for Edinburgh Castle.
Eilean Donan Castle
Eilean Donan Castle is located in Dornie, Kyle of Lochalsh, on the road to Skye. It’s a rather iconic castle and has featured in various films and television programmes. You can view the castle from two different directions via live webcams. The first Eilean Donan webcam is located at the beginning of the bridge over to the castle here. The second webcam is at Eilean Donan apartments, giving a good view back to Eilean Donan castle by the live feed.
Edinburgh Castle
You can view the majestic Edinburgh Castle from a webcam situated on Castle Rock Hostel. It’s a great view over to the castle, including impressive sunset and sunrises.
Urban Areas
Although I’ve titled this as urban areas, many are smaller towns, not big cities! However as they are built up I’ve included anything in towns within this section. This includes many Scottish live webcams with harbour views too.
Lerwick
As mentioned in the island section above you can see quite a bit of Lerwick from the town series of webcams. Market Cross is a great one to get a view of the town centre, as well as another located on the esplanade. The town hall webcam covers a large area and offers great views across Lerwick.
Aberdeen
We mentioned dolphins in the Aberdeen webcam above, but you can also see other areas of the harbour using the Aberdeen webcams. You can choose from harbour webcams looking North, East, South and West. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for dolphins!
Oban
The west coast town of Oban is lucky to have two webcams located around the harbour. It’s a popular place for tourists and the main hub for the Calmac ferries out to the isles. Using the North Pier webcam you can see the Oban Esplanade and Calmac Ferry terminal. The lighthouse webcam shows views across from Dunollie Castle to the Esplanade and ferry terminal
Pitlochry
At Pitlochry in Perthshire there are 3 webcams along the main street showing the current view. You can spend time people watching, although currently there aren’t too many people around! We normally visit Pitlochry in autumn for the Enchanted Forest, unfortunately it’s been cancelled this year, but we look forward to visiting next year instead.
Glasgow
Heading into the big city of Glasgow you can spy on those in the square via George Square webcam. There are plenty more people to watch, although you will have to wait for the video to refresh every 20 seconds. The camera is quite high up, so you can’t see anyone clearly!
Linlithgow
At Linlithgow you can watch the activity around Linlithgow Cross and also the canal centre on the 2 webcams Linlithgow Cross and also the canal centre on the 2 webcams. The canal would be a great one to watch when the canal boats begin moving again!
St Andrews Links
Finally you can head over to watch people playing golf at St Andrew’s Links via the webcam. You can see the golf course from various angles (click the drop down menu on bottom left) and the camera will turn to face the sea too! We’ve seen plenty of people going to play on the rocks as well! A nice place to be on a sunny day!
Scottish Roads and Airports
You can check out the view from Oban Airport, which is tiny, but great views across the sea. You can also watch planes take off from Perth airport, near Scone. It’s only tiny planes, but definitely a fun one to watch.
Last but not least are the Scottish live traffic cameras. Because when you do eventually get back to Scotland or we can drive further around these will be invaluable to find out how busy the roads are! Scotland has plenty of traffic cameras throughout Scotland’s major roads, although we usually only check them if there’s a road incident or when it snows. Hint, if it’s snowy check out the camera’s on the A9 at the Slochd and the A82 Altnafeadh for good snow drifts!
Let me know if you know of any other Scottish live webcams.
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