Mountain weather
North Grampian Mountain weather forecast table
Confidence
High for Tuesday and Wednesday. High for a change to unsettled and less cold weather later in the week but low confidence for daily detail.
Mountain weather forecast
Dry, bright and cold
| 06:00 | 09:00 | 12:00 | 15:00 | 18:00 | 21:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Weather (at 800m) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chance of precipitation (at 800m) |
10% | <05% | <05% | 00% | 00% | 00% |
Wind direction and speed (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
| 06:00 | 09:00 | 12:00 | 15:00 | 18:00 | 21:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1300m |
E
15
|
E
10
|
E
5
|
S
5
|
S
6
|
S
6
|
| 900m |
E
9
|
E
5
|
NE
3
|
S
3
|
S
6
|
S
7
|
| 600m |
E
4
|
SE
3
|
E
2
|
SW
2
|
SW
2
|
SW
3
|
| 300m |
NE
1
|
SE
2
|
SE
1
|
S
2
|
S
2
|
SW
3
|
| Glen |
N
1
|
W
1
|
N
2
|
SW
2
|
SW
3
|
S
3
|
Wind gust (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
| 06:00 | 09:00 | 12:00 | 15:00 | 18:00 | 21:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1300m | 19 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 900m | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 9 |
| 600m | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 300m | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| Glen | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Altitude above mean sea level
| 06:00 | 09:00 | 12:00 | 15:00 | 18:00 | 21:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1300m |
-6°
|
-6°
|
-6°
|
-9°
|
-10°
|
-10°
|
| 900m |
-3°
|
-3°
|
-3°
|
-3°
|
-4°
|
-4°
|
| 600m |
-1°
|
-1°
|
-1°
|
-2°
|
-2°
|
-3°
|
| 300m |
0°
|
0°
|
1°
|
-1°
|
-2°
|
-3°
|
| Glen |
0°
|
-2°
|
0°
|
-3°
|
-4°
|
-4°
|
| Freezing Level |
400m
|
400m
|
400m
|
300m
|
200m
|
100m
|
Altitude above mean sea level
| 06:00 | 09:00 | 12:00 | 15:00 | 18:00 | 21:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1300m |
-13°
|
-12°
|
-10°
|
-13°
|
-15°
|
-15°
|
| 900m |
-7°
|
-6°
|
-5°
|
-5°
|
-7°
|
-8°
|
| 600m |
-3°
|
-3°
|
-3°
|
-3°
|
-4°
|
-5°
|
| 300m |
-1°
|
-2°
|
-1°
|
-3°
|
-5°
|
-6°
|
| Glen |
-2°
|
-2°
|
-1°
|
-4°
|
-6°
|
-7°
|
Additional weather information
Met Office Aberdeen meteorologist's view
Sun glare off the snowpack in the afternoon.
Weather
A cloudy start, particularly across eastern ranges, some sunny spells in the west. Sunny spells increasing across all ranges in the afternoon. A cold evening with largely clear skies.
Chance of cloud-free hill tops
80%
Low cloud and visibility
Some thin cloud below 300 metres possible across the north of the area at first. Otherwise very good visibility with many ridges and summits seeing very little cloud.
Mountain weather information
Weather
Dry, bright and very cold but some high cloud spilling north in the afternoon making for flat light conditions. Strengthening southeasterly winds will bring heavy snow from mid-evening onwards, gales developing on the summits. Snow will be drifting around in the wind too.
Chance of cloud-free hill tops
90% during daylight
Maximum wind speed expected
South-southeasterly 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph, increasing to 30 mph gust 50-55 mph in the afternoon. Winds reaching nearer 80 mph across the Cairngorm Plateau by late evening
Temperature
- At 800m Minus 2 Celsius
- Glen Minus 10 rising to 0 Celsius
- Freezing level 400 metres or less
Low cloud and visibility
Good visibility with little in the way of cloud on the summits for much of the day. Cloud lowering to 700 metres from the south during the evening and coupled with snow will lead to very poor visibility.
Mountain weather information
Thu 7 Dec
Sunrise:
Sunset:
A cloudy and very windy day with summit southeasterly gales or severe gales. Widespread snow at first will soon clear away before further spells of rain extend northeast during the day. Freezing level 400 metres rising well above summits later, this leading to a thaw of some lying snow.
Fri 8 Dec
Sunrise:
Sunset:
Cloudy with spells of rain or higher summit snow, some drier weather too. Freezing level 1500 metres.
Sat 9 Dec
Sunrise:
Sunset:
A dry start but further rain, briefly preceded by higher summit snow, is likely to spread east for a time. Freezing level above summits.
Updated at:
Summit specific forecast
Mountain summit forecast map
Loading map…
Key
Mountain summits
Other points of interest
Cluster of multiple stations
Includes the northern and western Cairngorms National Park, Monadhliath, Ben Alder, Creag Meagaidh, Loch Ericht and Loch Rannoch.
The North Grampian mountain weather forecast area includes much of the Cairngorms National Park which boasts five of the UK's six highest mountains and includes the largest areas of land in the UK above 2000 and 3000 feet. The Cairngorm Plateau is well-known for its extreme and very changeable weather (the strongest gust ever recorded in the UK was 173mph on Cairngorm Summit on 20th March 1986). Despite the challenging conditions, there is a diverse range of wildlife in the area including golden eagles, snow bunting and ptarmigan.
Creag Meagaidh, to the north of Glen Spean, is where the east Highlands meet the west Highlands and is often exposed to bad weather from either direction. It is a popular area for ice climbing thanks to its vast plateau which includes five Munros (Scottish mountains over 3000 feet).
Ben Alder lies just to the west of Loch Ericht and is one of the remotest of the Munros. Approaches are long from all directions with options including a long walk or cycle from Dalwhinnie to the northeast or by taking a train to the very remote Corrour Station and walking in from the southwest.
For snow and avalanche hazard forecasts please visit Scottish Avalanche Information Service