All the weather information you need to plan your outdoors weekend.
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Weekend Weather - 22-23
December, 2007
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Fact of the Week! White Christmases
were far more common between 1550 and 1850 when Britian was
in the grip of a mini ice age, but the last white Christmas
was as recent as 2004 - so there :-)
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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.
About
Metcheck: good overviews of localised
areas based predominately 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.
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.
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Forecast
'After the endless domination of high pressure across
Western Europe, the anticyclone which has brought a strong
mixture of mist, fog and frost will decline and allow wet
and windy weather to push in from the West in time for....
you've got it, Christmas.
'The change starts this weekend. A developing secondary
low out in the Atlantic will gradually push in. It will be a
slow and painful process, however by late Sunday there will
be wet and windy weather for Western areas as the secondary
low deepens further.'
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Mountain Weather Information
Service
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About
the Mountain Weather Information
Service: 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. Scottish forecasts are seven days a week, the
Lakes are six days a week and the Peak and Snowdonia forecasts are
available three days, from Thursday through to Saturday. Check
individual forecasts for specific details. Arguably the best
mountain-specific forecast out there by a way.
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Forecasts
Saturday Blustery winds on Saturday with gusting up
to 50-60mph in the Highlands giving buffeting on higher
ridges and summit. Rain and showers too in many areas,
becoming wintry later on in Scotland with snow high up.
Temps on the tops from freezing to about 3C, visibility poor
in clouds and rain.
Sunday Again windy in Scotland in particular with
gusts as high as 60-80mph in some areas making exposed
ridges in particular, well worth avoiding. Patchy showers in
west and north west highlands, elsewhere it should be dry.
Visibility poor in clouds, reasonable the rest of the time.
Temps on the tops around 3C.
Check specific forecasts for details.
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About
BBC Weather: 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.
If you want video, check out the BBC
WEATHER
PLAYER with a selection of
forecasts.
BBC specific areas: Fort
William / Kendal
/ Betws-y-Coed
/ Aviemore
/ Skipton
/ Glossop
(Peak) / Brecon
/ Milton
Keynes.
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Forecast
Saturday: 'Light rain will push east reaching the
southeast by evening. Locally icy at first in northern parts
where this falls on to frozen surfaces. Turning milder in
the west.'
Sunday: 'Most places fine and dry. Rain returning to
the far northwest later with a strengthening wind.
Milder.'
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Met Office Mountain
Forecasts
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About
the Met Office: The giants of weather
forecasting in the UK, the Met Office also provides mountain
forecasts covering five major UK mountain areas: Scottish
West Highlands / Scottish
East Highlands / Lake
District / Snowdonia
National Park / Brecon
Beacons National Park.
Detailed forecasts for each day are posted early
morning - 5 am - plus there's a short outlook section for the next
two days.
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Forecast
Saturday: Scottish hills cloudy with light rain
falling as snow above 600 metres, risk of rain falling on
frozen ground giving ice lower down. Windy with gusts up to
60mph. Similar further south with possibility of rain
falling as snow on higher mountains like Snowdon.
Sunday: Mostly dry but windy with high wind chill
effect making it feel very cold. Rain with snow on higher
peaks later on in NW Highlands.
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Met Office General
Forecast
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Forecast
Saturday: 'Light rain will push east reaching the
southeast by evening. Locally icy at first in northern parts
where this falls on to frozen surfaces. Milder, brighter
from the NW later.'
Sunday to Tuesday: 'Mostly fine on Sunday. Scotland
and N.Ireland wet on Monday, but dry if rather cloudy
elsewhere. Rain for many overnight, lingering in parts of
the southeast on Christmas day. Milder.'
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 About
the Midge Forecast:
Innovative midge forecast covering the whole of Scotland and
complete with interactive map giving access to seven-day
forecasts for main Scottish towns. MIdge-heads can also take
advantage of extensive midge data which will be updated each
week.
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Forecast
Good news, no more midgies until the spring, the little
b********s are all dead or asleep or whatever it is they do
over Christmas 
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Scottish Avalanche Information
Service
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Forecast
Reports now running for Lochaber and Northern Cairngorms.
Risk at time of writing is 1 or Low, water icing making some
paths slippery. Good coverage on the Cairngorm plateau.
Check the latest forecast before heading out. See
blogs for images of recent conditions too.
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About
Web Cams: 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. Recently overhauled so most cameras
featured are actually working :-) If you find one isn't or have a new
addition we should know about, please let us know.
Sunday mostly dry, milder than recently. Some snow high up.
Very windy, wind chill plus poor visibility in rain and
clouds.
Verdict Afte rthe recent settled cold snap,
things are changing slightly. Looks like being a very windy weekend
with rain and wintery showers starring on Saturday and still windy
but drier in areas other than the western and north western highlands
on Sunday. Temperatures up top will range from around freezing to 3C
or so, but the wind chill will make it feel much colder, so shell
clothing and insulation an absolute must. The winds - 60 mph gusts
possible in Scotland - may make movement on higher ground and ridges
difficult, so maybe best to leave the Aonmach Eagach for another
weekend.
As far as Christmas goes, milder seems to be the
consensus, possibly wtih some showers, but sunshine too according to
Metcheck. You can always use the links on this page for up to date
forecasts.
Have a good one wherever you go :-)
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.
