There is a limited range of very hardy, evergreen climbers - ivy fits the bill, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend that. What might be better is if you planted in front of the fence with freestanding shrubs and plants which get different heights - but that depends on the depth of the border or soil available in front of said fence. There are plenty of hardy shrubs and perennials you could use in a sun/part sun situation, so if you let us know if you have a border in front of the fence, or can create one, what size it is from front to back and the length.

There are a few hardy clematis cirrhosa varieties ,also a few clematis armandii varieties.Climbing hydrangea and lonicera henryi (honeysuckle) should also do well.Although these could eventually soften the fence they are not really fast growing and if possible you should follow bamboos advice on shrubs/perennials in the meantime.

I grow honeysuckles on my equally brutal fence. Our weather is probably more severe than in Central Scotland and they survive well. In fact, this has been one of their best years and that's after 2 horrendous winters.

Thanks for the replies.
There is no border at the moment. From watching them put the fence posts in they were digging out rubble and bricks rather than soil unfortunately.
I like the idea of having climbers with some shrubs in front to create different heights. The area in front of the fence is used for parking so it's going to stay as gravel but I can dig out what I need to plant. If I dig a decent size trench along the front of the fence and fill with compost and soil once the plants are established would they find their own way through the rubble and manage to survive or do I need to do full scale excavation and create a proper border?

I think you will need a proper border, otherwise your plants will not thrive. Sorry!

Bamboo is correct you need to shelter before the fence.

Hi there how about getting nice wall planters to fix on fence and fill with winter flowering violas or pansy

Or nice planters if you dont want a border fill the plants with Autumn plants.

Good luck