Mountain weather

Mountain weather

Mourne Mountains

Confidence

High confidence for the general evolution, but lower confidence for details from later Friday.

Mountain hazards

Mountain weather hazards

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

Strong Sunlight
Harmful UV levels from sunlight increase with altitude giving a greater risk of sunburn and eye damage, even on some overcast days. On breezy days, the cooling effect of wind on exposed skin may disguise any feeling of sunburn until it is too late. If there is snow cover, glare increases the effect of UV rays especially on the eyes. It is advisable to wear sun block, protective clothing such as a long-sleeved top and hat and have good quality eye protection.

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.
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

Mostly dry morning. Rain, strengthening winds afternoon and evening

Time
Time
06:00
09:00
12:00
15:00
18:00
21:00
Weather
(at 800m)
Weather symbols Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy Heavy Rain Heavy Rain Light rain
Chance of
precipitation
(at 800m)
Chance of precipitation
10%
10%
10%
40%
50%
40%

Wind direction and speed

Altitude above mean sea level
Time
Time
06:00
09:00
12:00
15:00
18:00
21:00
600m
600m NW 16mph knots
NW
16mph
W 10mph knots
W
10mph
SW 16mph knots
SW
16mph
S 27mph knots
S
27mph
SW 33mph knots
SW
33mph
SW 36mph knots
SW
36mph
300m
300m NW 8mph knots
NW
8mph
W 7mph knots
W
7mph
SW 11mph knots
SW
11mph
SW 15mph knots
SW
15mph
SW 16mph knots
SW
16mph
SW 20mph knots
SW
20mph
Valley
Valley NW 8mph knots
NW
8mph
W 5mph knots
W
5mph
SW 9mph knots
SW
9mph
S 14mph knots
S
14mph
SW 13mph knots
SW
13mph
SW 17mph knots
SW
17mph

Wind gust

Altitude above mean sea level
Time
Time
06:00
09:00
12:00
15:00
18:00
21:00
600m
600m 22mph 13mph 22mph 37mph 45mph 51mph
300m
300m 14mph 10mph 17mph 26mph 29mph 36mph
Valley
Valley 15mph 10mph 16mph 27mph 29mph 35mph

Altitude above mean sea level
Time
Time
06:00
09:00
12:00
15:00
18:00
21:00
600m
600m 7 degrees Celsius 9 degrees Celsius 9 degrees Celsius 7 degrees Celsius 8 degrees Celsius 7 degrees Celsius
300m
300m 12 degrees Celsius 13 degrees Celsius 13 degrees Celsius 11 degrees Celsius 12 degrees Celsius 11 degrees Celsius
Valley
Valley 13 degrees Celsius 15 degrees Celsius 15 degrees Celsius 13 degrees Celsius 14 degrees Celsius 13 degrees Celsius
Freezing Level Freezing Level
2400m
2000m
2200m
3500m
3700m
3400m

Additional weather information

Meteorologist's view

Note the strengthening winds in the afternoon and evening will give difficult walking conditions with a risk of being blown off balance. Navigation could be challenging with energy output significantly increased when walking into the wind

Weather

Mostly dry with variable cloud and some bright spells in the morning, very small chance of the odd spot of drizzle. Clouding over from the west in the afternoon as a band of rain and strengthening winds spreads across the park, with summit gales in the evening.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

20% early hours, rising to 80% by midday, falling to 20% or less by evening.

Low cloud and visibility

Quite extensive areas of cloud down to 300-500m in the early hours. This breaking up through the morning. Then more widespread cloud returns from the west through the afternoon and evening. Visibilities poor in hill fog.

Ground conditions

No recent ground conditions report available.

Summit specific forecast