Weekend Mountain Weather Outlook

Weekend Weather 8th - 9th July '06

Fact of the Week! Florida averages 300 days of full sunshine per year which is more than lots of places in the UK put together...

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. 'Well depending on your point of view the coming weekend won't be the best of the summer. If you were hoping for the hot summer weather of the past week to continue into the weekend so you could enjoy it for all its glory that has been dashed by much fresher and cooler conditions which will continue throughout the weekend. If however you were hoping for some cooler, fresher and dry weather your hopes are likely to be dashed by the presence of a significant low pressure feature over the weekend.' Windy, wet, low pressure, starting in the west and heading east seems to be on the menu then. Check for details... 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. Saturday windy with the odd shower in some areas and sunny spells, Sunday much windier particularly north of the border where there may be gusts in excess of 70mph making walking on the tops difficult. Also likely rain earlier on, fading away to showers. Cooler than it has been. 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 'Much of the United Kingdom will have a fine and dry day with spells of sunshine. Northern Ireland and western Scotland will see thickening cloud, rain and freshening winds by evening.' Sunday 'Most places will start off cloudy and grey with outbreaks of rain and brisk winds, with gales in some exposed western areas. Becoming drier and brighter through the day with sunny spells and showers.' 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 'Showers across Scotland, some heavy in west. Mainly dry with sunny spells elsewhere. Rain reaching Northern Ireland later.' Sunday Rain from west, windy. 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 ;-)

Cooler.
Rain and high winds in some areas on Sunday.

Verdict It's going to be significantly cooler over the weekend with rain and showers spreading in from the west, though how bad they are depends on the timing of the front. It's also worth being aware of the possibility of high winds on the tops on Sunday, particularly in Scotland which, in some cases, may impede steady movement, so maybe not a great day for exposed ridges. Don't forget your shell clothing, looks like you may need it at least in parts.

Have a good one.