Mountain weather

Northwest Highlands

Northwest Highlands Mountain weather forecast table

Confidence

High for transition to dry, settled weather during Sunday with winds easing, and for settled conditions and light winds persisting for first half of next week.

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.

Mountain weather forecast

Mainly dry, some sunshine. Winds continuing to ease down.

06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
Weather
(at 800m)
Cloudy Sunny intervals Sunny intervals Sunny intervals Partly cloudy (night) Clear night
Chance of precipitation
(at 800m)
20% 20% 10% 10% <05% <05%

Wind direction and speed (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1000m N
35
N
37
N
30
NE
24
NE
18
NE
13
900m N
32
N
34
N
27
NE
20
NE
16
NE
13
600m N
23
NE
23
N
19
N
11
NE
7
NE
8
300m N
6
N
11
N
6
N
3
NE
2
NE
5
Glen N
13
N
15
NE
8
NE
7
NE
4
NE
5
Wind gust (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1000m 40 43 36 29 22 17
900m 37 40 33 26 20 17
600m 29 29 27 16 11 11
300m 31 38 27 20 13 14
Glen 30 34 22 18 9 8

Altitude above mean sea level
06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1000m
-2°
-2°
-2°
-2°
-2°
-2°
900m
-1°
-2°
-1°
-1°
-2°
-2°
600m
300m
Glen
Freezing Level
700m
700m
700m
600m
600m
500m

Altitude above mean sea level
06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1000m
-11°
-12°
-11°
-10°
-9°
-8°
900m
-10°
-11°
-9°
-8°
-8°
-7°
600m
-6°
-6°
-5°
-4°
-3°
-4°
300m
-1°
-1°
Glen

Additional weather information

Met Office Aberdeen meteorologist's view

Feeling bitterly cold, especially higher ridges and summits with sub-zero temperatures and strong winds, easing later.

Weather

A few light showers on Sunday morning, mostly over north Highlands, wintry above about 500m. Otherwise dry with sunny or clear periods.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

70%.

Low cloud and visibility

Generally very good visibility with occasional cloud cover above about 700 to 800m.

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Mountain weather information

Weather

A fine, dry day with plenty of sunshine and light winds at all levels. Cold with frost in the glens for much of the day.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

90%

Maximum wind speed expected

Light winds, variable direction.

Temperature

  • At 800m Minus 3 Celsius.
  • Glen Minus 9 Celsius rising to Minus 1 Celsius.
  • Freezing level 400m.

Low cloud and visibility

Excellent visibility with patches of cloud above about 700 to 800m.

Mountain weather information

Tue 10 Dec

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Mostly dry with sunny spells and light winds, but cloudier in the north with chance of some patchy light drizzle. Frost and freezing fog patches persisting in some glens all day.

Wed 11 Dec

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Staying dry with some sunshine and light winds. Frost in the glens and some patches of freezing fog.

Thu 12 Dec

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Rather cloudy with a little light rain during the day. Freshening southwest winds.

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