Mountain weather

Northwest Highlands

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Northwest Highlands Mountain weather forecast table

Confidence

High confidence for unsettled weather with rain and strong winds at times, but low confidence for day to day details, especially from Monday.

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 hazards explained
Avalanche information for Scotland. Scottish Avalanche Information Service.

Mountain weather forecast

Mostly cloudy with some snow. Dry west coast. Cold. Strong winds easing.

Time 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
Weather
(at 800m)
 Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy Cloudy
Chance of precipitation
(at 800m)
 30% 30% 20% 20% 30% 30%

Wind direction and speed (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
Time 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1000m SE
34
 E
36
 SE
36
 SE
32
 E
31
 SE
31
900m SE
33
 E
35
 SE
34
 SE
31
 E
29
 SE
29
600m SE
19
 SE
19
 SE
21
 SE
18
 SE
17
 SE
17
300m E
5
 E
5
 E
5
 E
5
 E
5
 E
3
Glen E
15
 E
13
 E
13
 E
12
 E
13
 E
13
Wind gust (mph)
Altitude above mean sea level
Time 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1000m 41 44 43 39 38 38
900m 40 42 41 38 37 36
600m 29 30 30 27 27 26
300m 23 25 24 24 22 20
Glen 29 28 26 25 25 24

Altitude above mean sea level
Time 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1000m
-3°
-2°
-2°
-2°
-2°
-1°
900m
-2°
-2°
-1°
-1°
-1°
-1°
600m
1°
1°
2°
2°
2°
2°
300m
2°
3°
4°
4°
3°
3°
Glen
4°
5°
6°
7°
6°
6°
Freezing Level
600m
600m
700m
800m
800m
900m

Altitude above mean sea level
Time 06:00 09:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00
1000m
-12°
-12°
-12°
-11°
-10°
-10°
900m
-11°
-11°
-10°
-10°
-9°
-9°
600m
-5°
-6°
-5°
-4°
-4°
-4°
300m
0°
0°
2°
2°
1°
1°
Glen
0°
1°
3°
3°
2°
2°

Additional weather information

Met Office Aberdeen meteorologist's view

Windy conditions with a chance of summit gales in the early morning will make for fairly arduous walking on exposed terrain with buffeting of clothing. Balance may be affected at times. Note that winds should ease through the day. Feeling cold at height so suitable clothing is advised. Widespread low cloud and hill fog so good navigation skills will be required. Keep up to date with the latest avalanche forecast from the Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS).

Weather

Keeping a southeasterly flow bringing further rain to Caithness and eastern Sutherland, falling snow above 500-600m at first, rising to 800-900m by evening. Staying mostly dry for the more sheltered areas around the west coast with chance of a few bright spells. Feeling cold with east to southeast winds gusting 40-50mph.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

Little chance in east, 50% for Skye and west coast.

Low cloud and visibility

In the east, widespread cloud down to 300-500m and poor visibilities in hill fog and outbreaks of snow. Around the west coast summits largely clear and good visibilities.

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Mountain weather information

Weather

Cloudy throughout the day. Rain and summit snow over Caithness and eastern Sutherland at first, with clear spells and a few showers in the west. A more organised band of rain, snow above 600m, spreads into the west through the afternoon and evening. Remaining cold.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

40%, best chances around the west coast in morning.

Maximum wind speed expected

Southeast 20-30mph

Temperature

  • At 800m Minus 1C to plus 2C.
  • Glen Plus 3C rising to plus 7C.
  • Freezing level 900-1000m falling to 600-700m.

Low cloud and visibility

Quite widespread areas of cloud down to 300-500m in the east all day, and spreading into the west later, with associated poor visibilities in hill fog and rain or summit snow. Cloud more broken with good visibilities in western areas through the morning.

Mountain weather information

Mon 2 Feb

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Cloudy with outbreaks of rain, or snow above 500-600m. Drier around west coast. Strong to gale southeast winds.

Tue 3 Feb

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Cloudy. A few showers around but mainly dry. Freezing level around 200-400m. Strong to gale southeast winds.

Wed 4 Feb

Sunrise:
Sunset:

Cloudy. Outbreaks of rain and summit snow moving north. Freezing level around 400-600m. Strong to gale southeast winds.

Updated at:
Mountain weather explained

Summit specific forecast

Mountain summit forecast map

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Separated from the Grampians by the Great Glen the weather forecast area includes Wester Ross, Assynt, Sutherland, Knoydart, Torridon, Glen Affric and the Cuillin Hills on the Isle of Skye.

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

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