The United Kingdom (officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) includes England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, the kingdom of Scotland has shared its monarch with England since 1603 and has been part of the United Kingdom since 1707. The coastline of the country is deeply cut by inlets, and there are more than 790 islands. The country has a long and distingushed maritime history; many of the most famous British captains and navigators have been Scots. Scotland was divided historically into 34 counties; the counties no longer have any administrative function although they continue to have cultural significance. Most of them survive as lieutenancy areas, the areas used for the ceremonial lord-lieutenants, the monarch's representatives. Since 1996 the country has been divided into 32 council areas for the purposes of local government. This page covers lighthouses of northern Scotland in the Highland Council Area. The council area, by far Britain's largest, is the heart of the Scottish Highlands, including the northern third of the Scottish mainland as well as the large Isle of Skye, the so-called Small Isles, and a number of other islands at the northern end of the Inner Hebrides. It includes large portions of the historic counties of Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty, all of Caithness, Nairnshire and Sutherland, and small parts of Argyll and Moray. The Northern Lighthouse Board The Scots word loch is used both for lakes and for inlets of the sea; a firth is a larger bay or strait, kyle is a strait or channel, and a mull is a rounded headland. Travelers in the Highlands, especially the western part, will find Scottish Gaelic in frequent use. The Scottish Gaelic phrase for a lighthouse is taigh solais; eilean is an island, sgeir is a skerry or rock, kyle is a strait, and rubha or àird is a cape or promontory. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume A of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 114.
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![]() Hyskeir Light, Sea of the Hebrides, April 2019 Instagram photo by Ally Rae for Northern Lighthouse Board |
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![]() Eilean Bàn Light, Kyleakin, January 2023 ex-Instagram photo by Giusy Pezzini |
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![]() Neist Point Light, Milovaig, October 2023 ex-Instagram photo by aliceyuenwaikiu |
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![]() Eilean a Chait Light, Loch Carron, October 2021 ex-Google Maps photo by David Booth |
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![]() Strathy Point Light, Inverhope, February 2023 ex-Google Maps photo by Kevin Newman |
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![]() Tarbat Ness Light, Portmahomack, July 2023 ex-Instagram photo by andys_clicks |
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![]() Bona Light, Lochend, June 2021 ex-Google Maps photo by Ian Beange |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Orkney | East: Eastern Scotland | South: Argyll and Bute | West: Western Isles
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted October 19, 2004. Checked and revised July 20, 2025. Lighthouses: 45. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.