Sun and showers - especially the showers - in the hills this weekend.
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Weekend Weather - 23rd - 24th June, 2007
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Fact of the Week!
The greatest ever range of temperature for one day was recorded in Montana, when the temperature was 44 degrees Fahrenheit but within 24 hours it had dropped to -56 degrees.
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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 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.
Forecast
A low pressure system is passing across the country bringing increasingly unstable air conditions, and hence showers.
"On Saturday, the showers will concentrate across Eastern areas, in particular Scotland will see some heavy showers during the afternoon.
On Sunday, the showers will develop widely across all areas, the heaviest across the West and Northern England."
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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. The Peak and
Snowdonia forecasts are now restricted to weekend forecasts
and go out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Check individual forecasts for specific
details. Arguably the best mountain-specific forecast out
there by a way.
Forecast
Showers across most upland areas on both Saturday and Sunday, but with sunny spells and good visibility in between. Temperatures will be cool - 3 to 4 degrees at 900m in the Highlands and 7 to 10 degrees at 750m in the Lake District. Eastern areas will have the worst of the weather on Saturday before passing it on to Westerly areas later in the weekend, particularly Snowdonia which has only about 20% chance of cloud-free summits on Sunday. |
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.
Forecast
Saturday: 'Some sunny spells, especially in Wales and western England. Showers will once again become widespread with a few heavy downpours chiefly in Scotland and eastern parts of England.'
Sunday: 'Feeling cooler across all areas as winds swing into the north. Showers will affect all areas but parts of Wales, Northern Ireland and southwest England may stay largely dry.' |
About the Met Office: See the weather for
the
next
week. The Welsh Mountain Forecasts are also useful
online forecasts covering the National Park areas of
Snowdonia - and the Brecon
Beacons.
Forecast
Saturday: 'Sunny spells in a few places at first but showers will break out almost anywhere and some will be heavy and thundery in the east of the UK.'
Sunday to Tuesday:
'Staying unsettled. Further showers, but also some bright spells. Risk of more general rain, especially in the east, and it will become colder as a brisk northerly wind develops.' |
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Scottish Avalanche Information Service
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About the Scottish
Avalanche Information Service: Daily avalanche forecasts are back for Lochaber and the
northern Gorms.
Forecast
No more of these for a while - check the midge forecast instead:-) |
About the Midge Forecast: Midge forecasting was set up for the first time in 2006 and forecasts are now published every seven days for all of Scotland, using a combination of data from midge traps and weather data. Predicted midge levels run on a scale of 1 (minimal itchiness) to 5 (tearing your hair out).
Forecast
Negligible levels of midges in the Cairngorms and Eastern Scotland (a midge rating of 1) rising to low levels (2) in the south east and moderate levels (3) in the north west Highlands. |
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 :-) Still some snow in Scotland, but bare elsewhere judging from the pics.
Patches of sunshine between the showers.
Cool temperatures and plenty of rainfall.
Verdict If you're expecting summer, forget it. There's a low pressure system moving across the UK this weekend bringing coolish temperatures and showers in most upland areas on both days. The east will see the worst of the rainfall on Saturday before passing it across to the west later in the weekend. On the plus side, there'll be plenty of patches of sunshine to balance the zipped-up Gore-tex moments, with good visibility at times.
Have a good one, and don't forget your waterproofs:-)
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.
