Hi Jennie
Although from the north of Scotland, you beat me by a considerable distance as I think I read a thread that mentioned Shetland ? My own experiences are identical to Lesley Jay's.
I have three compost bins going - two black plastic ones courtesy of Highland Council (£5 each) and another made from pallettes. The compost in the two bins is hot and rotting down nicely whereas the compost in the pallettes, whilst rotting down, is lot slower and only bottom third will be useable by springtime.
Perrenial weeds should be disposed of in your rubbish bin if possible, especially if you are having trouble keeping your compost heap hot (learned the hard way with bindweed !!! ). If you can get a bin with a lid, the exclusion of light also aids the demise of perrenials, but wherever possible, I try to exclude them !
Cheers
Rat