[Andy Mayhew]

Mountain Forecast – Issued Thursday 24th November 2011

Unsettled and very windy

General Situation:

An unsettled weekend as low pressure systems run from the Atlantic into the Norwegian Sea. After some snow fall over the Scottish Mountains on Friday, precipitation should turn back to rain on Saturday, and be quite heavy in the NW, before a cold front brings colder conditions back in on Sunday with again a risk of snow over hills. Strong winds throughout, though easing Sunday afternoon, probably getting up to severe gale or storm force over summits, especially in the Highlands. Drier across England and Wales. Not exactly the best of weekends for attempting the Cuillin ridge!

The Weekend in Detail:

Saturday 26th November - There may be a frost in some central and eastern glens first thing, but cloud quickly moving in from the west and turning into a wet day with low cloud for much of the Highlands with more eastern hills seeing the best chance of some brighter spells. Rain could be very heavy at times across Lochaber, Skye, Torridon and Sutherland. Very strong southwesterly winds with gales in the Highland and Western Isles to low levels and storm force over higher summits. However freezing levels will remain above summits through the day - and any lying snow from Friday should quickly disappear. Overnight a cold front moves in from the west and this bring a drop in temperatures with rain starting to turn back to snow above 2,000ft.

Most hills in England and Wales should be dry but here too very windy with gales over summits in the west. Still quite mild though. Variable cloud but most summits should be clear at times. However more cloud and some rain may affecting western fells of the Lake District and parts of Snowdonia at times.

Sunday 27th November - Should be a slightly better day in the Highlands. However still a fair few showers around through the morning giving a dusting of snow over higher ground, these should ease off through the afternoon though. Winds will have swung round to a more northwesterly direction by morning and still gales to start with but conditions should start to ease a bit later. Rain and low cloud to start across hills of England and Wales but this soon clearing to give a bright, breezy afternoon with temperatures falling in the aternoon as colder air works down from the northwest.

Further Outlook:

After a dry and slightly forsty start on Monday, more strong winds and rain will move in from the west, across Ireland and into western parts of Scotland by afternoon. Continuing very unsettled through week and into next weekend with freezing level fluctuating to produce further, mostly short lived, snow cover over higher ground in Scotland (accumulation may start to build in the ski areas) and perhaps to lower levels occasionally in some places, especially Sutherland, intersprered with much milder conditions. No sign of any significant low level snow nor any prolonged period of cold weather on the horizon.


For the latest daily weather update covering most upland regions of Britain, more please visit The Mountain Weather Information Service website provided by Geoff Monk.

Met Office Mountain Forecasts are also available for the Highlands, Lake District, Peak District and Wales.



Note: this is a personal interpretation of likely weather conditions on the UK hills and is intended for general guidance purposes only. Local conditions may vary and changes may occur suddenly and without warning. Extreme caution should always be exercised when venturing into the hills

TOI 11.15 GMT – 24th November 2011

Forecast by Andy Mayhew for Ukww

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