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Weekend
Weather - January 14-15, 2012
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Our regular Friday round-up of what's in store for the weekend with a
quick summary of a selection of mountain and more general forecasts.
Bear in mind that they're just projections and depending on how things
pan out, the outlook may change over the weekend, so it's worth
checking specific forecasts before heading out.
This week's weather image is a
snowy scenic shot of Beinn Lair and Slioch by Kinley from the
OM Gallery.
About
Metcheck:
good overviews of localised
areas based predominately on a number of meteorological models. Loads
of 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
'Looking ahead towards the weekend and the settled spell will continue
with frost and fog by night perhaps being slow to clear in places, but
for many the days should be fine and sunny. Once again though western
areas of Ireland in particular will remain cloudier, breezier and
milder with some patchy rain at times.' |
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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/Dales and Snowdonia forecasts
are
now available all week.
Check individual forecasts for
specific details.
Arguably the best mountain-specific forecast out there by a way .
Production is now fully funded by the Scottish Government in the
interests of mountain safety with operating and development down to
commercial sponsorship.
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Forecasts
Saturday Light winds, mostly dry,
extensive sunshines,
maybe with some fog in the valleys and around freezing both on the
summits and in the valleys. Good visibility higher up.
Sunday
Very similar to Saturday, though later on winds strengthening to as
much as 30mph on Scottish hills. Otherwise, dry, bright, clear and
sunny with temperatures at all levels hovering around freezing point or
just below.
Outlook 'An
area of
high pressure close to Britain will slowly migrate away eastwards, but
will maintain fine and on the mountains mostly sunny weather on Sunday
and Monday. Beyond, fronts will come in off the Atlantic, bringing a
return to wetter and windy conditions, particularly across Scotland.
There will be freeze-thaw cycles, the cold periods most prevalent on
the Scottish Highlands, where overall snow will begin to accumulate
again.'
Check specific forecasts for details as the weekend
progresses.
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About
BBC Weather:
Revamped for the summer, with easy access to a
lot more information including rain forecasts,
cloud, wind, temperature, visibility etc. Nice. Localised forecasts
accessible from the same page.
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Weekend
from iPlayer forecast: Saturday
starting cold with some foggy patches, then dry and bright with
sunshine though cold and an area of high pressure means Sunday will be
pretty much the same.
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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 major UK mountain areas - east and west
Highlands, Lakes, Snowdonia, Dales, Peak and the Brecon
Beacons. Detailed forecasts for each day
are posted early
morning - 5 am - plus there's a short outlook section for the next
two days. Increasingly our favourite mountain forecast as MWIS becomes
more randomly pessimistic.
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Forecast
Saturday: Dry pretty much everywhere with
sunny spells, some fog and frost early on in Scottish glens, but
generally good visibility all round, winds around 20mph on the summits,
but pretty still lower down.
Sunday: Pretty much a
repeat of Saturday.
Check individual forecasts for details.
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Met Office
General Forecast
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Forecast
Saturday: 'Mainly
fine and dry after a cold start. Fog patches may be slow to clear.
Cloudier at times in the west and around coasts. Brisk southeasterly
winds developing in west.'
Sunday to Tuesday: 'Sunday
and Monday largely fine but cold, although western parts may be cloudy
at times. Outbreaks of rain and hill snow likely to spread into the
northwest late on Tuesday.' |
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Weatherline
- Lake District
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 About
weatherline:
Funded
by the Lake District National Park Authority, the service combines a
five-day forecast from the Met Office in Manchester with firsthand
information from the fell top assessors' daily climb up Helvellyn. Also
available by phone on 0844 846 2444
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Forecast
The goods news is that an updated Weatherline site has allowed
sponsorship from local businesses which means the at risk fell top
assessment service will continue this winter.
Latest report from
Helvellyn (Thursday) snow has mostly gone from
the fells with just a few patches in sheltered dips and hollows above
850m and some larger banks. The only place snow is currently
unavoidable is the final exit ramp from Striding Edge where there's a
short stretch of compacted snow where an ice axe is needed,
particularly in descent. Full winter clothing needed thanks to wind
chill.
Definitely check back Friday/Saturday to see what conditions are doing
with the temperature fluctuating we reckon, |
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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
It's still there, but levels are, not surprisingly, down to negligible
pretty much all over. Don't panic.
The forecast
is also available via a free iPhone app. |
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Scottish
Avalanche Information Service
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Forecast
The avalanche forecast is back for winter. The forecast
from
yesterday, Thursday, is low for Lochaber, Glencoe the southern
Cairngorms and moderate for the northern 'gorms and Creag Meagaidh
where there are localised areas of instability despite a generally well
bonded snow pack. So looking generally good.
Snow conditions can change rapidly, so always check the latest
forecast before heading out and adjust your
plans accordingly.
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Sunshine,
dryness, light winds and, we're guessing, frozen ground.
Some fog in the
valleys.
This is more like it. A high pressure area's making things nice and
stable over the weekend with light winds, very little, if any, rain and
lots of sunny periods with generally excellent visibility. The only
thing metaphorically raining on the parade will be the possibility of
fog in glens and valleys.
Sunday's looking like a repeat of Saturday. Again it'll be dry, bright
and clear. Temperatures up top and in the valleys initially at least
will be around freezing or just below with overnight frost, we're
guessing too that soft ground higher up will be frozen making for good
walking and biking conditions and even the Scottish snowpack is playing
ball at the time of writing.
In short, a cracking weekend, just get out and enjoy it!
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.
