Mountain weather

North Grampian Mountain weather forecast table

Confidence

High for Tuesday. Low for Wednesday with large uncertainty in northern and western extent of any snow. High for strong winds on Thursday, but low for timing of rain clearing. High confidence for a change to colder showery conditions Friday and Saturday, but low for details.

Sunrise:
Sunset:
Mountain hazards

Mountain weather hazards

Hazards apply at or above 300m, reflecting the more severe conditions which can occur at altitude.

hazard Severe Chill Effect
Wind significantly lowers the ‘feels-like’ temperature relative to the actual temperature, with even moderate winds significantly adding to the chilling effect. Strong winds can result in a severe and debilitating wind chill many degrees below the actual temperature. This effect will be enhanced in rain or wet snow. Without protection, prolonged exposure could result in frost nip or frostbite on exposed parts of the body and/or hypothermia.
hazard Poor Visibility
Poor visibility presents challenging route finding conditions. Visibility could be significantly less than 50 metres in all directions with few or no visual references, especially on featureless moors or plateaux. Distances become hard to judge and cliff or cornice edges can be difficult to recognise. These conditions require good navigational skills. There is a risk of white-out conditions when mist or fog is combined with extensive snow cover.

hazard Gales
Gale force winds (gusts over 50mph) make walking difficult and strenuous with a potential to be blown over by gusts. There is often a marked increase in winds through cols or on exposed ridges and summits. Distances can take longer to cover and compass bearings become harder to follow accurately.

Mountain weather forecast

Rain and low cloud to start. Turning drier by the afternoon. Cold and windy.

06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
Weather
(at 800m)
Sleet Light snow Light snow Cloudy Cloudy Partly cloudy (night)
Chance of precipitation
(at 800m)
60% 50% 30% 20% 20% 10%

Wind direction and speed (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1300m W
42
W
30
W
23
NW
21
NW
9
S
6
900m W
38
W
26
W
20
W
17
NW
7
NW
5
600m W
27
W
19
W
16
W
13
NW
4
NE
4
300m SW
13
W
9
W
10
W
9
NW
5
NE
3
Glen W
7
W
6
W
7
W
5
NW
4
N
2
Wind gust (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1300m 54 40 31 27 12 8
900m 46 33 26 22 10 6
600m 34 27 22 19 8 5
300m 27 21 21 18 10 5
Glen 27 22 22 16 11 5

Altitude above mean sea level
06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1300m
-1°
-2°
-1°
-2°
-3°
900m
600m
300m
Glen
10°
10°
Freezing Level
1,300m
1,200m
900m
800m
800m
700m

Altitude above mean sea level
06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1300m
-10°
-9°
-9°
-8°
-7°
-6°
900m
-5°
-4°
-4°
-3°
-2°
-2°
600m
-1°
300m
Glen

Additional weather information

Met Office Aberdeen meteorologist's view

Note the lowering freezing levels with remaining snow patches likely to become hard and icy.

Weather

Rain and southerly summit gales at first, soon turning to snow above munro level as winds turn westerly and ease slightly. Rain and snow turn to showers through the morning. Snow lowering to around 700m towards midday, but showers turning light and increasingly well scattered. Cloudy but mostly dry in the afternoon and evening, possibly some clearer spells after sunset.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

20-30% in the morning, 60% in the afternoon.

Low cloud and visibility

Very poor visibility in rain and extensive cloud above 600m early hours and to start the day. Cloud bases gradually rising through the morning, often above the summits in the afternoon, but lowering to 1100m at times.

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Mountain weather information

Weather

Low cloud with a few light snow flurries, rain below 700m through the early hours. A chance of more persistent snow, rain below 700m, spreading north from dawn, most likely across the Cairngorms, before gradually clearing to the east later in the day. Western ranges towards Ben Alder and Creag Meagaidh more likely to be dry with some sunny spells. Dry and overcast in the evening, winds increasing overnight.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

30% in the east, 70% in the west.

Maximum wind speed expected

Northerly becoming Westerly 5 to 10 mph. Becoming south or southwest 20 gusting 30 mph late evening.

Temperature

  • At 800m Zero Celsius, rising to plus 3 Celsius, falling to zero Celsius in the evening.
  • Glen Plus 2 Celsius, rising to 8 Celsius.
  • Freezing level Around 800-900m, perhaps rising to 1100m in the afternoon.

Low cloud and visibility

Generally very good visibility across western ranges once any early morning cloud above 600m lifts, with summits cloud free. A chance that low cloud persists across the Cairngorms for much of the day.

Mountain weather information

Thu 21 Mar

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Cloudy with southwesterly severe gales and outbreaks of rain, clearing later in the day. Freezing level 1000m, quickly rising well above the summits. Falling to 1000m again evening.

Fri 22 Mar

Sunrise:
Sunset:

West or northwest gales with scattered showers, falling as snow to increasingly lower levels, and giving a risk of thunder. Showers most frequent across western ranges. Freezing level 800m falling to 400m.

Sat 23 Mar

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Cold, with strong north or northwest winds. Heavy wintry showers, most likely turning drier with winds easing later.

Updated at:

Summit specific forecast

Mountain summit forecast map

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For snow and avalanche hazard forecasts please visit Scottish Avalanche Information Service