The AB postcode hides the widest single spread in Scotland: lowland Aberdeen (Dyce) sits beside Braemar at 339m, one of the coldest places in Britain. A garden on the coast and one up in Deeside share a postcode but not a season.
Lowland frost here runs a little later than the Central Belt. Dyce's last frost is early May, and the uplands are among the latest anywhere in Scotland.
Where this covers
- AB Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Deeside, and Moray around Speyside, Keith and Buckie
Frost dates for Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire
- Lowland (coastal; under ~150m): last frost early May, first autumn frost late October, safe to plant out late May.
- Upland (Deeside and Cairngorm fringe; above ~150m): last frost late May to early June, first autumn frost mid-to-late September, safe to plant out mid June.
Dates are rounded to the nearest half month, from named Met Office stations (1991-2020 averages). Lowland means under about 150m; upland is above that.
| Garden | Last spring frost | First autumn frost | Safe to plant out | Season | Station | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lowland | early May | late October | late May | ~175 days | Dyce (Aberdeen) | high |
| upland | late May to early June | mid-to-late September | mid June | ~115 days | Braemar (339m) | high |
What this means for growing here
Sow and plant out to these dates rather than a UK calendar, and remember they are regional averages. Your own plot can run two to four weeks later in a frost pocket, or earlier against a warm wall. If your garden is above about 150m, use the upland figures; below that, the lowland ones. The Planting Calendar turns these into a month-by-month plan.
When to plant out tender crops here
Frost-tender crops go outside only once the safe planting-out date has passed, about two weeks after the last frost: late May on low ground and the coast, mid June on high ground in Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire. That applies to tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, sweetcorn, peppers, chillies and aubergines grown outdoors. That date is the earliest they can go out, not a promise they will ripen: on high ground the whole frost-free season is only about 115 days, so a greenhouse, polytunnel or cloches are the safer bet there.
Rain, sun and soil
Dyce, by Aberdeen, averages about 830mm of rain a year on about 143 days, with about 1,450 hours of sunshine and about 49 air-frost days, against about 43 at Edinburgh. Summers run a little cooler than further south: the July mean daily maximum at Dyce is 18.5°C, against 19.3°C at Edinburgh and 19.7°C at Dumfries.
Up Deeside, the Cairngorms are a granite massif, and granite weathers slowly into acid podzol, so a pH test before growing brassicas is worth doing on high ground.
Articles for gardens in Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire
- Frost Pockets vs Suntraps
- Protecting Garden Plants from Frost: What Actually Works
- Cold Frames in Scotland: A Buyer's and Builder's Guide
- Scotland's East/West Rainfall Divide: A Garden-Planning Framework
Sources
- Met Office: location-specific long-term averages: the 1991-2020 air-frost day counts behind the frost dates, last verified 2026-07-15
- Met Office: Dyce (Aberdeen), 1991-2020 averages: rainfall, rain days, sunshine, air-frost days and July and January temperatures for this region (read 17 October 2026)
- Met Office: Edinburgh, Royal Botanic Garden No 2, 1991-2020 averages: figures used for comparison (read 17 October 2026)
- Met Office: Dumfries, Crichton Royal No 2, 1991-2020 averages: figures used for comparison (read 17 October 2026)
- Met Office: Eastern Scotland climate: air-frost days and the length of the frost-free season on the high ground
- Derivation method: GrowScotland's own. We treat a month as carrying meaningful frost risk when it averages at least half an air-frost day, take the last such month in spring and the first in autumn, and express each as a half-month band.