As the end of the 2025 approaches, we’ve been looking back through this year’s photographs and picking out some of our favourite images.
In contrast to the previous twelve months this year brought some beautiful weather, giving us plenty of excuses to get out and about. We've gathered thousands of photos of Orkney over the years but the islands continue to offer up new views and vistas, with everchanging light and textures to capture.
We hope you enjoy viewing our selection of images as much as we enjoyed making them.
January
January offered some special winter afternoons and evenings, especially with this low sunset over Kirkwall, silhouetting the spire of St Magnus Cathedral.
February
February often brings the biggest gales and it certainly felt that way in 2025 when this big southeasterly battered the coast at Roseness in Holm.
March
March this year brought a series of cold, misty mornings across Orkney, giving a heightened sense of atmosphere and mystery at the Standing Stones of Stenness.
April
In April the landscape still lay in its muted colours, but the spring light brought a genuine warmth to the stone gables of the Stromness harbourfront.
May
In May we welcomed the return of the long, lingering evening, perfect for cycling quiet country roads, like here in Birsay.
June
June's sunshine meant it was time for a trip to the beach, but which one? The island of Sanday offers a supreme range of options and we thought Backaskaill wasn't a bad place to start.
July
July saw Orkney hosting the International Island Games which brought plenty of golden sunshine to match Team Orkney's haul of gold medals. The month brought perfect conditions for the local barley harvest, with the heads of the crop captured here in the late evening light above Harray Loch.
August
August always brings a slight softening of the light. This big ‘land-sea’ rolling in from the Atlantic near Skaill offered a gentle precursor of the autumn gales to come.
September
Fishermen’s buoys, Orkney flags, and yellow doors added a splash of colour to the subtle tones of Orkney stonework on this Stromness harbourfront property. A visiting ‘three-master’ provided an appropriate backdrop.
October
October and the coast and skies above took on a more brooding atmosphere. Shafts of afternoon light illuminated the sea spray as it rolled over the cliffs of Marwick Head.
November
November is our favourite time of year to visit Hoy. The Cra’as Nest museum in Rackwick blended into the surrounding landscape of subtle autumnal hues.
December
As Winter Solstice approached, the low December sun illuminated spray from huge Atlantic rollers sweeping towards the coast at Billia Croo, near Stromness. The familiar shape of the Hoy hills lay in the background.
If you want to visit Orkney and experience these scenes and seasons for yourself, take a look at our Inspiration page for more ideas on things to see and do across the islands.