Fireworks in Stornoway and the Western Isles

Most firework retailers will not send to the Hebrides at all. Fireworks are explosives, and once a crossing is involved most couriers simply put the islands on the do-not-deliver list along with a chunk of the Highlands.

We can get them to you. We work with a carrier that runs its own vessels, so island orders travel on a boat licensed to carry the goods rather than being squeezed into the restrictions that apply to passenger ferries. That is the whole reason we can serve Stornoway when a lot of bigger names cannot.

How island delivery works

Put your postcode in at the checkout and the available options and exact cost come up before you pay — no guessing and no "we will let you know" after you have handed over your money.

Allow 5 to 7 days. That is our normal delivery window and it applies to island orders too. It costs more than a mainland drop, because it is a licensed explosives carrier and a sailing rather than a van on a motorway, but the timing is not the obstacle people expect it to be.

What does change is October. Everyone in Scotland wants their fireworks in the same fortnight, and when you add a crossing to that the practical cut-off for the fifth of November comes round sooner than it does on the mainland. If Bonfire Night is the plan, get the order in with room to spare rather than counting the days back from it.

Coming to the mainland anyway?

Collection from the shop is free and there is nothing to arrange.

Firework Superstore
85 Bogmoor Road, Shieldhall
Glasgow G51 4FH

Tuesday to Friday 9am – 5pm, Saturday 10am – 5pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.

One thing to know if you are carrying them home yourself rather than having them shipped: taking fireworks in a private vehicle onto a passenger ferry is a different matter entirely, and the operator will have rules on quantities and packing. Check with them before you travel rather than at the terminal — or just let our carrier take them and save yourself the bother.

The law, wherever you are in Scotland

The Western Isles are covered by the same Scottish rules as everywhere else, and they are stricter than England's.

Fireworks can only be set off between 6pm and 11pm. The exceptions are 5 November, when you have until midnight, and Hogmanay, Chinese New Year and Diwali, when you have until 1am. The maximum penalty is a £5,000 fine, six months in prison, or both. You must be over 18 for anything beyond category F1, and ID is required on delivery — make sure whoever is in has it to hand.

Councils can also designate Firework Control Zones, where setting off a firework anywhere in the zone — gardens included — is a criminal offence. Glasgow and Edinburgh both have them. For the position in the Western Isles, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is the authority to ask.

Choosing for an exposed site

You know better than we do what the wind does out there, and it is the thing that decides whether a display goes ahead. Wind rules out tall, light effects long before it rules out anything else — rockets and high breaks are the first casualties.

Low, heavy, ground-based kit copes far better: fountains, mines, and short wide-bore cakes that put their effects up fast and low. If you tell us the site and which way it faces, we will steer you towards things that will still work on a rough night rather than sitting in the box.

Since you cannot walk in and look at the boxes, use the video — we fire and film the big pieces ourselves and put the footage on the product page, unedited, so you can judge the height and spread before you buy.

Read the Firework Safety Hub before the night, or ring 0141 892 3269 and we will talk it through.