Walter the Weathgirl checks out the prospects for the weekend's mountain weather and wonders what on earth happened to spring...
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Weekend Weather 1/2 April '06
in association with GORE-TEX® fabrics
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Fact of the Week!
Britain gets several tornadoes each year. One of the
worst hit west London on Dec 8th, 1954, ripping through
Chiswick, Gunnersbury, Acton, Golders Green and Southgate.
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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.
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Metcheck
for good overviews of localised areas based on a number
of meterological 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.
'The weather has taken a specific turn
to far more unsettled conditions and noticeably much wetter
conditions for many, that change will persist throughout the
rest of the week and into the weekend. ' Apparently it's all
down to a constant cycle of low pressure systems coming from
the SW then pushing NE.
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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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.
New the number of Scottish
forecast areas has been increased to give better coverage
and now includes the Southern Uplands in addition to the
main highland areas
You might have thought you'd seen the
last of winter, but oh no. It'll still be good and cold on
the tops with temperatures at or below freezing in most
areas. South of the border you can expect 30-40mph winds and
showers on both days, Scotland meanwhile is forecast to have
a calmer Saturday albeit with occasional rain and showers,
but with winds picking up on Sunday and swinging round to
the north.
Next week is forecast to cop cold
northerly winds, so it's not exactly springtime just yet :-(
Check individual forecasts for
specific details. Arguably the best mountain-specific
forecast out there by a way.
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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 'Persistent rain in
northern Scotland. Elsewhere a mixture of sunny spells and
showers that will develop more widely. Mild and
breezy.'
Sunday 'Cloudy and rain for a time
in the north. Sunshine and heavy, blustery showers with a
risk of thunder in the south. Feeling warm in any sunshine
in the south but a chilly wind developing in the
north.'
BBC specific areas:
Fort
William / Kendal
/ Betws-y-Coed
/ Aviemore
/ Skipton
/ Glossop
(Peak) / Brecon
/ Milton
Keynes.
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Met
Office For localised
five-day forecasts use this
page.
Saturday 'Rain slow moving over
northern Scotland. Rain over eastern parts at first clearing
away east. Then sunny spells and scattered showers. Windy,
especially in the south and west. Rather warm in
sunshine.'
Sunday Winds swinging round to
the north in the northern half of the UK, showers aplenty as
well..
Welsh Mountain Forecasts Useful
online forecasts covering the National Park areas of
Snowdonia
- and the Brecon
Beacons.
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Scottish
Avalanche Information Service
- Full service now up and running for winter with avalanche
and climbing condition reports for five major Scottish
climbing areas - Lochaber, northern and southern Cairngorms,
Glencoe and Creag Meagaidh.
The forecast for today, Friday, ranges
from considerable to high avalanche risk, depending on where
you are. Many slopes will be well bonded, but fresh snow
will create hazards on some slopes. Check the latest
forecast before you go out. It's also posted in strategic
locations close the the hills.
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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.
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It won't be rainy all the time, plus warm in the sun...
Still cold high up and windy in a lot of areas too.
Verdict You thought it was spring time?
Think again, it's going to be cold on the tops even if it's mild in
the valleys and warm in the sun. England and Wales cop 30-40mph winds
right across the weekend supplemented with showers and variable
visibility while Scotland seems due a calmer Saturday then a more
aggressive Sunday as the wind swings round to the north again. Next
week, according to MWIS will see cold northerly winds making things,
well, cold really. A good weekend to make sure you pack the
waterproofs and some warm clothing. Have a good one.
For winter kit advice, see the links at the bottom of this
article.
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.
