The name Tiree is familiar to many people as it is heard daily on the UK shipping forecast. Information is provided by the island's weather station which gives exact meteorological reports. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, its climate is quite mild. The island once had a population of almost 4500, but many crofters left during the Clearances or later. It is quite flat with lots of farming land and has much fertile sandy soil.
Few trees grow here though, due to the wind.
The underlying rock, Lewisian gneiss, is thought to be 2900 million years old - half as old as the Earth itself. The island has many beautiful empty white sandy beaches and dunes. The largest is Gott Bay which arches round for about 4km and faces east back to Mull. The machair with many varieties of wild flower displays a host of colour in the Spring and Summer. There is also much bird life on Tiree and apparently two of the best locations are Loch Bhasapoll and a cave on the coast at Kenavara.