Weekend Weather Outlook

Weekend Weather 22nd-23rd January '05 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 - right now, check ou t the snow :-) And whatever you do, have a good one. Metcheck for good overviews as well as a mountain forecast that allows you to select indidual peaks throughout the UK with a 72-hour graphic summary of conditions hour by hour plus a load of other interesting stuff. Turning colder says Metcheck with high pressure to the NW feeding colder air further south and more widespread snowfall expected across northern Scotland early on Sunday. Also, they reckon, widespread snow inland across eastern areas early next week. Mountain Weather Information Service has a great downloadable mountain-specific forecast for Eastern and Western Highlands, Peak District and Lakes in PDF format. Plus a Snowdonia forecast. The Peak and Snowdonia forecasts are now restricted to weekend forecasts and go ou ton Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Check specifics. Generally though looks like being a cracker of a weekend with the odd snow shower in Scottish hills, generally good visibility in most places and sub zero temperatures on the tops, though northern Cairngorms may be claggy - Lakes forecast look cracking :-) Get out there and enjoy. Met Office For localised five-day forecasts use this page. Saturday ' Rain and snow across southwestern areas slowly clearing. Sunny periods elsewhere. Wintry showers near northeast coasts.' Sunday Lots of brightness, particularly south of the Scottish border. Welsh Mountain Forecasts Excellent online forecasts covering the National Park areas of Snowdonia - and the Brecon Beacons. BBC Weather Site uses Met Office data, but more user friendly. Saturday ''Outbreaks of rain, sleet and perhaps hill snow across southwestern areas should gradually clear southwards by the end of the day. Snow showers near eastern coasts, dry with sunny periods elsewhere, turning frosty overnight. ' Sunday 'Snow showers near northeastern coasts are likely to spread across many eastern areas later. Dry with sunny periods elsewhere. Cold for all. Frosty at first and again later.' BBC specific areas: Fort William / Kendal / Betws-y-Coed / Aviemore / Skipton / Glossop (Peak) / Brecon / Milton Keynes. Wasdaleweb weather - Always worth a loook just for the piccy from OM member Guy Newbold who lives and works in Wasdale. See also the live webcam pics of Scafell Pike and Great Gable. The Wasdaleweb Webcam now has a flash new camera for higher quality images and they looks great plus there's now a new Scafell Pike web cam, which is currently not working... Scottish Avalanche Information Service - The avalanche forecast and snow conditions reports are back covering five main Scottish winter climbing areas. You should always check the latest report before heading out. Today, Friday, avalanche hazard is generally '3', 'Considerable'. Climbing conditions looking generally thin with a decent dump of snow and a freeze thaw cycle needed. 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. Ho hum... [we're updating the page shortly with some new cams and sor]] Dry, cold, clear. Cold ;-) Verdict Looks like a cracking weekend in most areas with coldness, dryness and settled conditions generally expected. It'll be cold on the tops with sub-zero temperatures plus added windchill making the effective temperatures well below zero. Windproof and insulation layers a must then and don't forget gloves and hats. 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.