Winter 2026–27
This winter in your flat
Burst pipes in an Edinburgh winter are easier to prevent than to mend, so these reminders run from early November to late winter, each tied to official advice.
By the Pipes Up the Stair site team · how pages are checked · Updated
These are evergreen reminders for winter 2026–27, checked against official pages on 5 November 2026. There is no news here and no forecast: just the jobs worth doing in a stone flat as the nights get colder, in roughly the order they come up.
Before the first frost: know how cold the city gets
Frost is a regular visitor, not a freak event. Met Office averages for 1991–2020 give the Edinburgh Gogarbank station, in the west of the city, 48.01 air frost days in a typical year, and the Royal Botanic Garden No 2 station 42.68. December is the frostiest month at both, with 10.63 frost days at Gogarbank and 10.40 at the Botanic Garden. The reasons stone tenements still freeze are on our frozen pipes in stone tenements page.
Early November: find your stopcock and try it
Know where the water goes off before you need it. Scottish Water's winter advice puts the stop valve most often under the kitchen sink and says it normally closes clockwise, and that in a flat the supply may be shared. If it is stiff or hidden, finding your stopcock covers the usual hiding places.
November: lag the pipes in cold corners
Insulation is the cheap fix. Home Energy Scotland rates lagging pipes and tanks among the simplest, cheapest protections against cold weather, and suggests foam insulation on a boiler's plastic condensate pipe. Pipes under a floor or on an outside wall of your own flat are the ones to look at first; pipes in a shared roof space are for the owners to arrange with a contractor.
Before December: book the gas check and test the CO alarm
Get the boiler seen before the cold sets in. SGN advises a yearly check of every gas appliance, done by an engineer on the Gas Safe Register, and Scotland's tolerable standard requires a carbon monoxide detector wherever there is a flue or a fixed combustion appliance, leaving out those used only for cooking. If the alarm sounds, get everyone out into fresh air and call 0800 111 999 from outside, or 999 if someone is unwell; see gas smell and carbon monoxide and hiring a plumber or gas engineer.
December: watch the condensate pipe on hard frosts
A boiler that stops on a freezing morning may have a frozen condensate pipe. Vaillant says an F28 or F29 code on its boilers can mean a frozen condensate pipe, and that warm water, never boiling, can clear it. Only do that on a plastic pipe you can reach from the ground, never from a ladder or a tenement window; our frozen condensate pipe page explains what to do otherwise.
Before you go away for Christmas: frost setting and a key-holder
An empty flat in a cold snap is the classic burst. Home Energy Scotland suggests that, without frost protection, you keep the thermostat at 10°C, programmer running, and that someone checks the home, stops any dripping taps and confirms the frost setting works. Leave that person a note of where your stop valve is.
Any freeze: if a pipe freezes or bursts
Water off first. For a frozen pipe, Scottish Water says turn off the stop valve, open the cold taps but never the hot, and warm the frozen section with a heated cloth, never a direct flame or the boiler. For a burst, it adds switching off the boiler and immersion, and the electricity at the mains if water could reach wiring; do that only if the consumer unit is dry and safe to reach, and otherwise stay clear and get help. Then follow burst pipe first steps and warn the neighbour below, as in leak into the flat below.
January: keep condensation down
Cold walls and closed windows breed damp. Historic Environment Scotland says the most effective cure is to reduce the moisture load: hang washing outdoors or in an aired room, open a window once you have bathed or showered, and keep extract fans running while you cook and for a while after. More in condensation and damp.
Late winter: put shared repairs on the stair's list
Storms find the weak rhone. The council's shared repairs service gives free advice on organising common repairs, though it offers no grants for repairs. Any owner calling a meeting for a scheme decision must give at least 48 hours' notice under the Tenement Management Scheme; council shared repairs help explains the rest.
Where this comes from
- Location-specific long-term averages: Edinburgh Gogarbank — Met Office: air frost days, 1991–2020
- Location-specific long-term averages: Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden No 2 — Met Office: air frost days, 1991–2020
- Advice on frozen or burst pipes — Scottish Water (archived copy of its page)
- Protect your pipes this winter — Home Energy Scotland: lagging, 10°C setting
- Carbon monoxide — SGN: yearly checks, 0800 111 999
- Tolerable standard guidance: fire and carbon monoxide detection — Scottish Government
- Getting ready for winter: your condensate pipe — Vaillant
- INFORM guide: condensation — Historic Environment Scotland
- Shared repairs and maintenance — City of Edinburgh Council
- Tenement Management Scheme — meeting notice