Altnaharra is a small hamlet in Sutherland in the Highland region of northern Scotland. Its nearest villages are Lairg and Tongue . Lochs in the area include Loch Naver and Loch Eriboll.
The hamlet gets its name from the Allt-na-h-Aire, which is a stream that flows through the hamlet. Its name is Scottish gaelic and means Stream of Watching.
Altnaharra is famous for the Altnaharra Hotel, which was opened in 1820 and quickly became a popular place for fishermen to stay while visiting nearby lochs. Today the hotel is also popular with mountain climbers: Ben Hope and Ben Kilbreck are two mountains in the immediate area of the hamlet.
Its other claim to fame is its met office weather station. Its northernly latitude and inland location mean that it regularly features in the daily weather extremes for the UK. On December 30, 1995 the lowest temperature on record in the United Kingdom was recorded at Altnaharra, at -27.2oC. This matched a similar recording at Braemar in the Grampians in 1982.
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