Mountain weather

Lake District Mountain weather forecast table

Confidence

High for the general story over the next few days. Slight uncertainty in the timing of the rain clearing on Wednesday, give or take an hour or two. Easter weekend looks very unsettled but there is a lot of uncertainty in the details at this stage.

Sunrise:
Sunset:

This evening forecast

A mainly dry, cloudy and mild evening with patchy fog on the summits. A little light rain or drizzle at times, mostly in the west. Fresh southwest winds on the tops.

Sunrise:
Sunset:
Mountain hazards

Mountain weather hazards

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

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 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.

Mountain weather forecast

Mostly dry morning. Rain turning heavier for a time in afternoon. Windy on the tops. Mild.

Time 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
Weather
(at 800m)
Cloudy Cloudy Fog Fog Light rain Heavy rain Partly cloudy (night) Partly cloudy (night)
Chance of precipitation
(at 800m)
20% 20% 20% 20% 60% 80% 30% 10%

Wind direction and speed (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
Time 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
900m SW
16
SW
20
SW
22
SW
23
SW
23
SW
27
W
28
NW
26
600m SW
10
SW
13
SW
17
SW
18
SW
20
SW
20
W
22
NW
18
300m SW
3
SW
4
SW
6
SW
9
SW
10
SW
8
W
12
NW
9
Valley SW
3
SW
3
SW
7
SW
9
SW
10
SW
9
W
11
NW
9
Wind gust (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
Time 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
900m 19 25 27 30 30 34 36 34
600m 13 17 23 24 27 27 32 27
300m 10 14 17 20 23 23 27 23
Valley 10 13 16 18 20 21 25 21

Altitude above mean sea level
Time 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
900m
-1°
600m
300m
Valley
Freezing Level
1,400m
1,300m
1,200m
1,300m
1,700m
1,800m
1,100m
900m

Altitude above mean sea level
Time 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
900m
-2°
-3°
-4°
-4°
-3°
-3°
-6°
-8°
600m
-1°
-3°
-4°
300m
Valley

Additional weather information

Meteorologist's view

A mild day in the valleys but windy and rather cold on the tops, especially in afternoon rain.

Weather

Mainly dry, cloudy and mild overnight. A largely cloudy day with patchy light rain or drizzle, this will turn persistent and heavier for a couple of hours during the afternoon. The rain will clear to leave a mostly dry evening with clear spells. Best chance of any bright spells will be across eastern fells.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

30% with best chance in east.

Low cloud and visibility

Extensive cloud above 500 or 600m developing overnight, lifting onto higher summits during the morning, then lowering again for a few hours in the afternoon. Visibility away from cloud, mostly hazy but down to a few km at times in rain or drizzle. Cloud clearing in the evening.

Ground conditions

Date: Tuesday 31 March. Location: Helvellyn summit at 11:43. Temperature: plus 5.8C. Maximum wind speed 30.9mph. Wind chill: minus 1.3C. Average wind speed: 24.4mph. Full report: It was drier than forecast this morning on Helvellyn and noticeably warmer than the past few days, despite the atmospheric foggy conditions on the summit it was a very nice day for being out on the fells with sunny breaks starting to appear at the time of the readings. Some snow remains around the corrie rims on the Helvellyn range with isolated patches elsewhere, the top of Swirral Edge for example. The warmer temperatures will no doubt be stripping snow off the classic edges now but care for isolated patches on the flanks will still be needed. The need for micro-spikes on many routes will now be less, and the Swirls Thirlmere approach was snow free today throughout for example. The summit weather was more settled than of late but the wind-chill was still in the minuses so warm layers, hat, gloves and cold weather gear is still essential. Tomorrow looks a similar sort of day, whilst Thursday is looking like a nice day to be on the fells but distinctly cooler, so pack all the essentials if heading up and expect a cool wind-chill and some foggy conditions at times.

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Mountain weather information

Weather

Clear spells and a frost overnight. A dry day with bright or sunny spells and light winds.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

90%, becoming 30% during evening.

Maximum wind speed expected

West or Southwest 5-10mph, increasing to 25mph gusts 35mph in evening.

Temperature

  • At 800m Minus 2C rising to 3C.
  • Valley Minus 1C rising to 8C.
  • Freezing level 600m, rising above summits during the day.

Low cloud and visibility

Mainly excellent visibility with any cloud above the tops. Cloud becoming extensive above 600m during the evening.

Mountain weather information

Fri 3 Apr

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Unsettled with showers or longer spells of rain. Strong southwest winds with a gales on the tops. Freezing level above summits.

Sat 4 Apr

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Unsettled with rain or showers, heavy at times. Strong winds with a chance of severe gales. Freezing level above summits.

Sun 5 Apr

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Brighter and colder with some showers, perhaps wintry on the tops. Strong westerly winds.

Updated at:

Summit specific forecast

Mountain summit forecast map

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