Coordinates: 60°46′N 0°52′W / 60.76°N 0.86°W / 60.76; -0.86

Baltasound is the largest settlement on the island of Unst in Shetland. Unst is the most northerly inhabited island in the United Kingdom. The village lies halfway along the island's east coast on a sheltered bay called Balta Sound.

Baltasound was formerly the most important herring port in Shetland, in 1902 its catch exceeded that of the Shetland capital Lerwick. The herring trade declined rapidly after 1905 but the physical remains of the herring boom remained long after.

Baltasound can also lay claim to the most northerly "wood" in the British Isles, although it is not very substantial.

Many of Baltasound's current amenities hold the record for the most northerly in the UK:

Baltasound is home to the most Northerly Met Office weather station in the United Kingdom. Despite its isolated location, as with the rest of the British Isles, Baltasound experiences a maritime climate, albeit a very pronounced one, with particularly cool summers and mild winters. Its extreme northerly location combined with frequently overcast skies lead to very low levels of sunshine during the winter months - December will average just under 15 and a half minutes of sunshine daily!
Baltasound also holds the record for both highest and lowest (reliable) temperatures reading's in the Shetland Islands; 25.0 °C (77.0 °F) during July 1958, and −11.9 °C (10.6 °F) during February 2001. This suggest's that despite the absence of a close landmass allowing for the advection of extreme temperatures, Baltasound's North facing location results in a Fohn effect induced by hills to the south.