Mountain weather

North Grampian Mountain weather forecast table

Confidence

High confidence for more settled Sunday and general showery conditions from Tuesday. Low confidence in details for Monday.

Sunrise:
Sunset:

This evening forecast

Scattered showers, wintry above 200-300m, feed in from the north through the evening. Staying largely dry in the sheltered southwest towards Ben Alder and Drumochter Hills. Visibilities falling poor in frequent snow showers and quite extensive areas of cloud down to 400-600m, combined with strong northwest winds bringing blizzard conditions at times. Feeling bitterly cold.

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 Blizzards
Blizzards and whiteouts present challenging and serious conditions due to a combination of falling or blowing snow, strong winds and cold temperatures. They can be highly disorientating, often resulting in near-zero visibility with limited or no visual references and no distinction between ground and sky. Cliff edges and cornices may not be apparent, even close up. These conditions require very good navigational skills.
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.
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

Scattered wintry showers morning. Dry, cold afternoon. More snow late evening.

Time 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
Weather
(at 800m)
Light snow Light snow shower (night) Light snow shower (night) Sunny intervals Sunny day Sunny intervals Cloudy Light snow
Chance of precipitation
(at 800m)
50% 40% 30% 20% 00% 00% 20% 70%

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
1300m N
29
N
25
NW
21
NW
16
NW
11
S
13
S
25
S
38
900m N
21
NW
18
NW
15
NW
10
W
6
S
11
S
21
S
36
600m NW
11
NW
9
NW
7
W
5
W
4
S
5
S
9
S
22
300m NW
7
NW
6
NW
4
W
3
SW
2
S
3
SW
2
S
9
Glen NW
5
NW
4
NW
3
W
3
SW
3
S
4
S
3
S
3
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
1300m 37 32 27 20 14 16 31 48
900m 26 23 19 12 8 14 26 45
600m 16 14 11 8 6 7 14 34
300m 16 14 11 7 6 6 6 22
Glen 18 16 13 10 6 10 12 17

Altitude above mean sea level
Time 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1300m
-6°
-6°
-6°
-7°
-7°
-8°
-7°
-6°
900m
-3°
-3°
-4°
-4°
-4°
-4°
-3°
-2°
600m
-1°
-1°
-2°
-2°
-1°
-2°
-2°
300m
-1°
-2°
Glen
-1°
Freezing Level
400m
400m
300m
300m
300m
200m
200m
300m

Altitude above mean sea level
Time 00:00 03:00 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1300m
-16°
-15°
-15°
-15°
-13°
-14°
-17°
-18°
900m
-11°
-10°
-10°
-9°
-8°
-9°
-10°
-11°
600m
-6°
-6°
-5°
-5°
-4°
-4°
-6°
-7°
300m
-3°
-2°
-2°
-2°
-1°
-3°
-4°
-4°
Glen
-4°
-3°
-3°
-3°
-2°
-3°
-3°

Additional weather information

Met Office Aberdeen meteorologist's view

Feeling bitterly cold despite the fair weather in the middle of the day, so suitable clothing required. Note the deteriorating conditions in the evening with gusts over 40mph giving 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

Scattered snow showers in the early hours feed in from the north. These will die out through the morning to leave the afternoon dry with sunny spells and light winds. Clouding over from the west through the afternoon before snow and strong winds, with gales over the summits, arrive in the late evening.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

30% at first. Rising to 90% or higher by midday. Falling to little chance in late evening.

Low cloud and visibility

Quite extensive areas of cloud down to 400-600m and visibilities falling poor in snow showers through the early morning, with strong winds bringing blizzard conditions, best chance of clearer summits to the sheltered southwest. Summits become clear and good visibilities through daylight hours. Widespread cloud and snow bring poor visibilities again in the late evening.

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Mountain weather information

Weather

Rain, and summit snow, will clear east through the morning. Then mostly dry with bright spells in the afternoon, but the chance of the odd shower. Very strong winds in the morning will ease down somewhat through the rest of the day. Feeling a bit less cold than Sunday.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

Little chance in the early morning, rising to 75% by midday.

Maximum wind speed expected

Southerly 35-45mph at first, gusting 60-70mph over the Cairngorm summit.

Temperature

  • At 800m Minus 2C to plus 2C.
  • Glen Plus 3C to plus 6C.
  • Freezing level Above summits falling to 1000m.

Low cloud and visibility

Widespread cloud down to 400-600m in the morning and poor visibilities in rain or high summit snow. The clearing by midday to leave summits largely clear and good visibilities. Chance of showers in the afternoon will cause cloud bases and visibilities to drop rapidly at times.

Mountain weather information

Tue 2 Dec

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Bright spells and a few showers. Freezing level around 800-1000m. Fresh south to southwest winds.

Wed 3 Dec

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Another day of bright spells and a few showers. Freezing level around 800-1000m. Fresh south to southwest winds

Thu 4 Dec

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Bright spells and scattered showers - chance of longer spells of rain. Freezing level around 1000m. Fresh south to southwest winds

Updated at:

Summit specific forecast

Mountain summit forecast map

Loading map…

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