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Somewhere in the first week of February, Glasgow notices the light. The sun sets after 5pm for the first time since October, people leave work in something that isn’t quite darkness, and by the end of the month it’s still light at a quarter to six. Glasgow in February is still winter, and nobody should pretend otherwise, but it’s winter on the turn: snowdrops along the Kelvin, the Six Nations in the pubs, a film festival at the end of the month, and hotel prices that haven’t yet caught up with spring.
This guide covers February’s weather and daylight, the Glasgow Film Festival, Scotland’s Six Nations matches, Valentine’s Day, the school mid-term break, where to find the first signs of spring, and whether February suits your trip. Weather figures are Met Office long-term averages for Glasgow. Dates and prices were checked in September 2026, so treat prices as the right order of magnitude and confirm before you book.
February in Glasgow at a glance
| February 2027 | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Average high / low | 7.4°C / 1.6°C |
| Rainfall | About 125mm on roughly 15 days, noticeably drier than December and January |
| Sunshine | About 70 hours, half as much again as January |
| Daylight | 8½ hours on 1 February, 10½ hours by the 28th |
| Sunrise / sunset | 8.12am / 4.50pm on 1 February; 7.12am / 5.49pm on the 28th |
| Six Nations | Scotland v Italy, Saturday 6 February; Scotland v Wales, Saturday 13 February (both at Murrayfield, Edinburgh) |
| Valentine’s Day | Sunday 14 February |
| School mid-term | Glasgow schools are off on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 February |
| Glasgow Film Festival | Wednesday 24 February – Sunday 7 March |
| Crowds and hotels | Quiet and good value, with busier weekends around the rugby, half-term and the film festival |
What things cost in February
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Subway single / all-day cap | £1.80 / £3.40 | Contactless or Smartcard; a paper single is £1.85 |
| Kelvingrove, Riverside Museum, the Burrell, GoMA | Free | Busier on half-term days and wet weekends |
| Kelvingrove organ recital | Free | 1pm Monday to Saturday, 3pm on Sunday |
| Royal Conservatoire of Scotland performances | From £5 | Hundreds of student concerts, operas and plays a year |
| Celtic Park / Ibrox stadium tours | From about £20 / £28 | Ibrox tours run on non-match days only |
| Park and ride, all day | About £8.15 | Includes a return Subway trip |
| Glasgow Science Centre | Check before you go | Prices vary by day and season, so confirm on the centre’s own site |
Our guides to Glasgow on a budget and free things to do in Glasgow make the most of a month when the best indoor sights cost nothing.
February weather in Glasgow
February is still properly wintry. The Met Office’s long-term averages give a high of 7.4°C and a low of 1.6°C, with around nine frosty nights on average at the Met Office station at Bishopton, near Glasgow Airport. The difference from December and January shows up in the rain and the sun. February averages about 125mm of rain on roughly 15 days, against about 160mm in the two months before, and around 70 hours of sunshine, half as much again as January. Crisp, bright, frosty days are more common, and they’re glorious.
Snow is as likely now as at any time of year. A good fall turns the parks white for a day or two before the rain comes back, and the higher hills north of the city often stay white for weeks, which makes the views from Queen’s Park or the Necropolis worth the climb. Storms still roll in from the Atlantic, so keep an eye on the forecast if you’re planning a day trip or an island ferry.
What to pack for February
- A warm waterproof coat with a hood. February is drier than January, not dry.
- Hat, gloves and a scarf for cold mornings and windy evenings.
- Boots with grip for frost, slush and muddy park paths.
- Sunglasses, surprisingly. Low winter sun on wet pavements is dazzling.
See our Glasgow weather guide for the whole year.
The evenings come back
February adds two full hours of daylight, and March adds even more. On 1 February the sun sets at about 4.50pm. By around 6 February it’s setting after 5pm, on Valentine’s Day at about 5.18pm, and on 28 February at 5.49pm. Mornings improve too: sunrise moves from 8.12am to 7.12am across the month.
In practice, that means you can finish a museum at 4pm and still walk back through a park in daylight, which you can’t do in December. It’s the first month of the year when a full day of sightseeing, from a morning at Kelvingrove to an afternoon walk to the top of the Necropolis, doesn’t feel like a race against the dark.
Snowdrops and the first signs of spring
February is snowdrop month. Clumps of them come up in the woodland along the River Kelvin, under the trees in the city’s parks and in old estate gardens around Glasgow, often while there’s still frost on the grass. By the end of the month the first crocuses appear, and on a sunny day the city starts to feel like it’s waking up.
For a February walk, follow the Kelvin Walkway from the Botanic Gardens down to Kelvingrove Park. There are snowdrops on the banks, the river runs high with winter rain, and there are warm cafés at both ends. Start or finish in the Botanics’ glasshouses, which are free, warm and full of green whatever the weather. Pollok Country Park, with its woodland paths and Highland cattle, is the other good bet, and the Burrell Collection is right there when the rain arrives. Our guide to walking routes in Glasgow has more.
Glasgow Film Festival: 24 February – 7 March 2027
The Glasgow Film Festival is one of the biggest film festivals in the UK, and its 23rd edition runs from Wednesday 24 February to Sunday 7 March 2027. The 2026 festival broke attendance records, so expect busy screenings. The programme mixes premieres, previews of the year’s big releases, international and Scottish cinema, retrospectives, guest appearances and one-off events in unusual venues.
The hub is the Glasgow Film Theatre on Rose Street, just off Sauchiehall Street, an art deco cinema that opened as the Cosmo in 1939 and is still the heart of Glasgow’s film culture. Screenings and events spread to other venues across the city. Book as soon as the programme is announced, because the gala screenings and guest events sell out quickly, and leave room for something you’ve never heard of, which is where festivals are at their best. Our Glasgow Film Festival guide has more on how it works.
The Six Nations
February is Six Nations rugby month, and Scotland’s matches bring a particular buzz to the city even though the home games are played in Edinburgh, at Murrayfield. In 2027 Scotland play:
- Scotland v Italy, Saturday 6 February, 2.10pm, Murrayfield.
- Scotland v Wales, Saturday 13 February, 4.40pm, Murrayfield.
- France v Scotland, Sunday 21 February, 3.10pm, in Paris.
- March brings Scotland v Ireland on Friday 5 March at Murrayfield, the first Friday-night Six Nations game in Edinburgh, and England v Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday 13 March.
If you have tickets for Murrayfield, Edinburgh is under an hour from Glasgow by train. Trains are packed on match days, and Haymarket is the nearest station to the stadium. Our guide to getting from Glasgow to Edinburgh has the options. If you don’t, the pubs are the place to be. Unlike football, rugby isn’t caught by the Saturday afternoon broadcast blackout, so every match is shown live, and a Scotland game in a packed Glasgow bar is an experience in itself. Arrive early for a view of the screen. Our guide to traditional pubs in Glasgow is a good place to start.
Valentine’s Day in Glasgow
Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday in 2027, so expect restaurants to be busy across the whole weekend of 12–14 February. The good tables go weeks ahead, so book early. For a special occasion, look at our guide to Glasgow’s Michelin-starred restaurants. For drinks afterwards, the city’s cocktail bars are excellent.
Cheaper and arguably more romantic: an afternoon in the Kibble Palace at the Botanic Gardens, followed by a walk along the Kelvin as the light goes, then dinner and a drink on Ashton Lane, the cobbled West End lane strung with lights. Our guide to romantic things to do in Glasgow has plenty of other ideas.
One more date for the diary: Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, falls on 9 February 2027. Glasgow’s cafés and brunch spots mark it in their own ways, and our guide to the best brunch in Glasgow will point you to a good stack.
February half-term with children
Glasgow’s schools take a short mid-term break on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 February, and schools in many other parts of the UK take their half-term in mid-February too, so that week is busier at the big family attractions. The Glasgow Science Centre on Pacific Quay is the obvious half-term trip, with hands-on science floors and a planetarium. Prices vary, so check the current price on the centre’s own website before you go, and see our Glasgow Science Centre guide for how to plan the visit.
The free options are just as good. The Riverside Museum of transport is packed with trams, trains and a recreated old street, and Kelvingrove has Sir Roger the elephant and a Spitfire. On a really wet day, our guides to rainy-day activities for kids and soft play and indoor fun will save the day.
Theatre, music and nights out
February is a strong month for culture. The classical season is in full swing at the Royal Concert Hall and City Halls, the Royal Conservatoire’s performances start from £5, and our guide to classical music in Glasgow covers the cheaper ways in. In recent years A Play, A Pie and A Pint at Òran Mór on Byres Road has started its spring season in February. It’s a new one-hour play at 1pm, and the ticket includes a pie and a pint, which makes it one of the city’s great lunchtime institutions. See the Glasgow theatre guide for what else is on stage.
For gigs, the smaller venues are busy with bands on their first tours of the year, and our guide to live music venues will help you pick one. If you’re planning a return in March, the Glasgow International Comedy Festival is next on the calendar.
Day trips from Glasgow in February
Longer days make February a much better month for day trips than December or January, though winter conditions still apply further north.
- Edinburgh. It’s under an hour by train, but avoid the Six Nations Saturdays unless you’re going to the rugby, when trains and pubs are rammed.
- Stirling Castle. On a clear, cold day the views over snowy hills are outstanding.
- Loch Lomond. The loch is quiet and beautiful in late winter, with snow on the hills, though some attractions keep winter hours.
- A distillery. A tour works in any weather, and February is quiet enough that you’ll rarely share it with a crowd.
The Highlands remain a winter proposition. Snow and ice can close roads, and a guided tour is the safer way to see Glencoe in February. Our guide to day trips from Glasgow has the full range.
Is February a good time to visit Glasgow?
February is a better month than its reputation suggests. It’s cheaper than spring, noticeably brighter and drier than December and January, and it has enough going on to fill a long weekend: the Six Nations atmosphere, Valentine’s dinners, snowdrops, and the film festival at the end of the month. The honest trade-off is that it’s still winter, with cold, frost and the odd storm, and it’s not yet the month for long walks or Highland scenery.
If you can choose, the last week of February is the best of it. You get the longest days of the month, the opening of the Glasgow Film Festival on the 24th, and prices that are still in winter mode. If you want spring blossom rather than snowdrops, wait for April; our guide to the best time to visit Glasgow compares every month, and our Glasgow in January guide covers the month before.
If you can push your trip into March, you’ll gain more than two hours of daylight over the month, see the daffodils out in the parks and catch the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, which runs from 10 to 28 March 2027. Our guide to Glasgow in March has the details.
Glasgow in February: frequently asked questions
Is February a good time to visit Glasgow?
Yes, especially for a city break on a budget. Hotels are cheap, the museums are quiet, the evenings get noticeably lighter, and the Glasgow Film Festival starts on 24 February 2027. It’s still winter, though, so pack for cold and wet weather.
How cold is Glasgow in February?
The average high is 7.4°C and the average low 1.6°C, with around nine frosty nights in a typical February. It feels colder in the wind, so bring a warm, waterproof coat, a hat and gloves.
Does it snow in Glasgow in February?
It can. February is one of the likelier months for snow, but it rarely lies in the city for more than a day or two. The hills around Glasgow are much more reliably white.
When is the Glasgow Film Festival 2027?
From Wednesday 24 February to Sunday 7 March 2027, centred on the Glasgow Film Theatre on Rose Street. Book gala screenings and guest events as soon as the programme is released.
Are the Six Nations matches played in Glasgow?
No. Scotland’s home Six Nations games are at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, under an hour away by train. In 2027 they play Italy on 6 February and Wales on 13 February, and every match is shown live in Glasgow’s pubs.
When is the February half-term in Glasgow?
Glasgow schools are off on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 February 2027. Many other UK schools take a longer half-term the same week, so family attractions are busier than usual.
Related Glasgow Guides
- Best time to visit Glasgow, month by month
- Glasgow in January: weather, events and what’s on
- Glasgow Film Festival guide
- Glasgow weather: what to expect and what to pack
- Glasgow events and festivals calendar
- Romantic things to do in Glasgow
- Glasgow with kids
- Things to do in Glasgow when it rains
Photo Credits
Snowdrops in Glasgow: Snowdrops in Glasgow by Sara Thomas, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Glasgow Film Theatre: DSCN8613 Glasgow Film Theatre by AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Ashton Lane: AshtonLaneGlasgow by GeorgeRob, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Glasgow Science Centre and Glasgow Tower: Glasgow Science Centre and Tower by Florian Fuchs, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
