Drummond Castle DCNN1444 – Perception versus Reality….a good site or not?

56.33815 -3.87747 Met Office Assessed CIMO Class 4 Archived temperature records from 1/1/1970

Drummond Castle weather station lies in a remote section of the castle grounds approximately 3 miles to the south west of the Perthshire town of Crieff. Unlike many Scottish Castle sited weather stations it is not located in the walled garden itself, instead being in a robust enclosure in a flat area away from buildings and any significantly compromising issues. There have been local weather stations in the area (principally the nearby village of Muthill) since the mid 19th century and possibly even earlier. This should be a good site for reliable observations.

The above image indicates both a 100 metre radius (for Class 1) and an inner 30 metre radius suitable for Class 2. On this solely distance basis Class 1 is borderline but a fully accurate Class 2 certainly appears acceptable. The water features are typical of the area even if the lake to the west is probably artificial. There are consents for new hydro-electric schemes in the area.

So why has the Met Office judged this a lowly Class 4? A ground level image is required to assess the general terrain and vegetation.

The first important point to note is that images such as this above tend to foreshorten features……. the Oak tree to the north is in fact about 60 metres (200 feet) from the good quality enclosure. Scaling from fixed points I estimate the Oak to be in the region of 25 to 30 metres (80 to 100 feet) tall but is due north of the screen so will not cast any problematical shadow. Pulling out the image for a wider vista does not indicate any other problems and though this will inevitably be a cooler inland site, I doubt this area represents a significant or abnormal frost hollow. The surrounding trees do not indicate any particular “wind shaping” to suggest this is an unusually windy site.

I would welcome the views of experienced meteorologists regarding why the Met office may mark this site down to such a low standard based on the CIMO regulations. I can only guess shading from the trees at times of low angle sun is considered a demerit. However, that does seem to be remarkably harsh. This site is very reminiscent of Levens Hall being inexplicably down rated to Class 5 as well as many other low rated inland sites such as Class 4 Stowe that similarly should make potentially Class 1.

The Met Office seems to almost want to mark down some apparently good quality inland sites, whilst bizarrely suggesting other heavily compromised sites are much better. Perhaps if the Drummond Castle owners built a solar farm around their enclosure as at Chertsey Abbey Meads they would make Class 3? Or better still build a runway and huge concrete Diversion/Settlement tank alongside as at Cranwell and make Class 1! Is there anyone at the Met Office who can genuinely justify Heathrow being considered more reliable and representative of its wider surroundings than this Drummond Castle site is of its environs?

A cynic might suggest that cooler reporting rural sites like Drummond Castle offer real world natural data that cannot be manipulated to fit a theory whilst the Met Office simultaneously turns Nelson’s eye to problems at selected “warming” sites that conveniently fit a theory.

Drummond Castle is a manual reporting station and whilst it has had hiccups in reporting observations at times in the past, it is clearly very well looked after and observed by its current custodians. So much so that it is an award winning and well regarded site. From the Daily Record.

Quite why the Met Office has chosen to not include this site in its Location Specific Long Term averages is (just like Cawood) truly mind-boggling when one considers those it prefers to use in lieu.

The first point is that 4 of the above 5 no longer exist – only Strathallan is now functional. Perhaps of even greater concern is that Stirling Sewage Works and Perth actually closed down (1998 and 1979 respectively) BEFORE the selection process to include sites to represent area climate averages. That choice was made in 2004, which begs the question – why exclude a long term existing and fully operational site in favour of ones closed 6 and 25 years before their inclusion?

Stirling Sewage Works weather station image from 2003……..better than Drummond Castle?

Pending further investigation, I consider that Drummond Castle weather station should be included in the historic temperature record of the UK as a good quality and reliable site.

Source: https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/drummond-castle-dcnn1444-perception-versus-reality-a-good-site-or-not/