Scottish weather website lets people know if it’s safe to take their tops off

Parts of the UK have been basking in 18C temperatures and sunny skies all week but the summer feelings haven't spread to some parts of Scotland according to one peculiar weather website.

Spottings of the common or garden sunburnt topless Briton have been recorded all over the country, but a Scottish authority on the subject has poured cold water on the prospect.

Taps Aff is a labour of love by Glaswegian Colin Wadell which seeks to determine when the weather is good enough for Scotts to walk around topless.

Defining the term, Colin writes: "There’s an unagreeable temperature upon which Glaswegians will deem it appropriate to start undressing in response to a lick of heat coming from the sky.

"Although no-one can settle upon when it’s appropriate (some say never) what we can agree upon is the taxonomy of the conditions: it’s Taps Aff weather.

"Removing one’s shirt under favourable atmospheric conditions is not unique to the west-coast of Scotland, but the fervour with which locals descend upon every sun-kissed park, patio and beer garden is a source of civic pride.

"This phrase Taps Aff has therefore come to embody far more than just paradoxical undressing. It represents shucking your responsibilities in favour of topping up your vitamin-D, meeting with friends under the sun and making the most of the good weather as soon as it arrives."

But when is it officially Tapps Aff weather?

According to Colin, it's a little more complicated than you might think.

He writes: "On the first sunny day of the year, if there’s no wind and the sky is clear the threshold sits around 17°C. The “almost there” warning comes on at about 15°C.

"I suppose the final answer of when it’s Taps Aff is when I decide it is. What a superpower."

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Sadly for Colin and the rest of Glasgow, the site has determined that it is decidedly not Tapps Aff today (Thursday, March 24).

The site currently lists the city's temperature as 13C and has positioned an anorak graphic over the city that describes the weather as "Awright."

One day soon though, it'll be Tapps Aff in Scotland's second city again.

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