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Weekend Mountain Weather Outlook

Walter the Weathergirl scours through the online met people for indications of how the weather's going to look on the hills this weekend - we've seen worse :-)


Posted: 11 August 2006
by Walter the Weather Girl

Weekend Weather
12th -13th August '06



Fact of the Week!

The odds of being struck by lightning
are approximately
1 in 800,000


Our regular Friday round-up of what's in store for the weekend. Just check the links for the relevant weather forecasts and if you want to know how things look in a particular area right now, check out the OM web cams page for a selection of hill cams. And whatever you do, have a good one.

Metcheck for good overviews of localised areas based on a number of meteorological models. Loads of quirky options for stuff like rain forecasts plus offbeat, leftfield weather generalisations. Get stuck in and have a browse, there's a lot on this site.

They say: 'The low pressure area which has been responsible for the cooler and fresher weather for all areas is now slipping slowly into the North Sea, however it hasn't given up the fight just yet.

'During today, the rain associated with the low will push South-west into many parts of North-eastern England and East Anglia before manoeuvring itself towards the centre of the country in time for the weekend.'

You can check out individual areas or dig a bit deeper for the Mountain Forecast page or the Climbing Forecast page. The Seven-Day Charts give a handy overview too.

Mountain Weather Information Service has great downloadable mountain-specific forecasts for NW, W and SE Highlands, Cairngorms, Southern Uplands, Peak District and Lakes in PDF format. Plus a Snowdonia forecast. The Peak and Snowdonia forecasts are now restricted to weekend forecasts and go out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Worth wading through the increasingly cluttered lay-out.

They say: A bit of wind, with some buffeting high up, risk of showers in many areas and feeling cool up top for the time of year with summit temperatures around 8-10C in the Highlands. Visibility looks good in most areas, the main risk to a happy weekend is the possibiliy of rain spreading into the middle of the country - watch out Peak District - on Sunday. Saturday looking the better day in most areas.

Check individual forecasts for specific details. Arguably the best mountain-specific forecast out there by a way.

BBC Weather Site uses Met Office data, but more user friendly. Just been revamped for the summer, weird stuff but easy access to a lot more information including rain forecasts, cloud, wind, temperature, visibility etc. Nice. Localised forecasts accessible from the same page.

Saturday 'East Anglia and southeast England will be cool, cloudy and wet, with a brisk wind. Elsewhere, there will be variable amounts of cloud, with the best of any sunshine towards western areas.'

Sunday 'Much of England will be cloudy and grey, with outbreaks of rain at times. Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and southwest England will have the best of any dry and bright conditions.'

BBC specific areas: Fort William / Kendal / Betws-y-Coed / Aviemore / Skipton / Glossop (Peak) / Brecon / Milton Keynes.

Met Office For localised five-day forecasts use this page. See weather for the next week.

Saturday 'Heavy showers affecting eastern England. Mainly dry elsewhere.'

Sunday Again best in the west.

Welsh Mountain Forecasts Useful online forecasts covering the National Park areas of Snowdonia - and the Brecon Beacons.

Scottish Avalanche Information Service - The last daily avalanche forecast for the season has been and gone. In the winter there are avalanche and climbing condition reports for five major Scottish climbing areas - Lochaber, northern and southern Cairngorms, Glencoe and Creag Meagaidh. But we don't want to think about that for a while yet ...

OUTDOORSmagic web cam page Links to all the UK mountain web cams we're aware of. If there's one that we've missed, please drop us a line and we'll add it to the page. Good for getting a general idea of what the snow situation's like, if the sun is shining, whether there's anywhere to park in Coniston etc. Check the image you're viewing is up to date as they often seem to go down. We'll overhaul this page shortly as some of the links aren't functioning or the cameras have disappeared - nicked? You have to hope not ;-)

Mild and sometimes sunny.
You can expect rain or showers in most areas at some point and windiness too.

Verdict It's looking best in the west according to most forecasters with the south east copping wet cloudy weather on Saturday, but the remainder of the UK staying mostly dry albeit with a good helping of gusty wind and summit temperatures that are low for the time of year. On Sunday there's a risk of rain coming from the east and the Peak may get persistently wet if things go badly. Shell clothing advisable plus bear in mind that while it will be mild in the valleys, it will be cool higher up, particularly when stopped, so pack some lightweight insulation.

As ever, check indiviual forecasts - particularly the MWIS where applicable - for specific area and have a good one.


Obvious Disclaimer Hey come on, we all know mountain weather's unpredictable, and while the above forecasts and links are a guide to what the weather may do, remember that mountain areas also tend to generate their own conditions, temperatures are much cooler up top than in the valleys and conditions can be totally different from down in the valleys.


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