Mountain weather

Mountain weather

Peak District

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Confidence

High for the overall weather story, lower confidence in the details of any precipitation, and low confidence after Monday.

Mountain hazards

Mountain weather hazards

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

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.
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.

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.
Updated: 
Mountain hazards explained

Mountain weather forecast

Outbreaks of rain expected early. Drier and brighter this afternoon but with strong westerly winds.

Time
 Time
06:00
09:00
12:00
15:00
18:00
21:00
Weather
(at 800m)
 Weather symbols Light rain Heavy Rain Light rain Sunny intervals Sunny intervals Partly cloudy (night)
Chance of
precipitation
(at 800m)
 Chance of precipitation
80%
70%
30%
10%
10%
10%

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 W 20mph knots
W
20mph
 SW 25mph knots
SW
25mph
 W 30mph knots
W
30mph
 W 33mph knots
W
33mph
 W 30mph knots
W
30mph
 W 25mph knots
W
25mph
300m
 300m W 14mph knots
W
14mph
 SW 19mph knots
SW
19mph
 W 24mph knots
W
24mph
 W 26mph knots
W
26mph
 W 22mph knots
W
22mph
 W 18mph knots
W
18mph
Valley
 Valley W 8mph knots
W
8mph
 SW 12mph knots
SW
12mph
 W 18mph knots
W
18mph
 W 21mph knots
W
21mph
 W 17mph knots
W
17mph
 W 12mph knots
W
12mph

Wind gust

Altitude above mean sea level
Time
 Time
06:00
09:00
12:00
15:00
18:00
21:00
600m
 600m 25mph 31mph 39mph 45mph 41mph 34mph
300m
 300m 19mph 25mph 34mph 37mph 33mph 27mph
Valley
 Valley 19mph 25mph 35mph 39mph 34mph 27mph

Altitude above mean sea level
Time
 Time
06:00
09:00
12:00
15:00
18:00
21:00
600m
 600m 7 degrees Celsius 8 degrees Celsius 8 degrees Celsius 8 degrees Celsius 7 degrees Celsius 6 degrees Celsius
300m
 300m 10 degrees Celsius 10 degrees Celsius 11 degrees Celsius 11 degrees Celsius 11 degrees Celsius 10 degrees Celsius
Valley
 Valley 11 degrees Celsius 11 degrees Celsius 13 degrees Celsius 13 degrees Celsius 12 degrees Celsius 11 degrees Celsius
Freezing Level Freezing Level
3100m
2800m
2100m
1900m
1800m
1800m

Additional weather information

Meteorologist's view

Wet and windy in the morning with low cloud will mean quite poor walking conditions first thing, so waterproof layers will likely be needed. This will slowly improve through the morning to leave mostly dry weather in the afternoon, leaving fairly better conditions. However, there will be some strong and gusty winds, which may be higher than our model suggests on the summits, so plan routes well to take this into account. Sunscreen required as sunshine develops this afternoon.

Weather

Cloudy at first, with outbreaks of rain or drizzle expected through the morning, that could be briefly heavy at times. This will mostly clear away by the afternoon, with cloud thinning and breaking up to leave some good spells of sunshine by the late afternoon and very isolated showers. Winds strengthening through the morning to strong and gusty westerly winds for much of the day. Clear spells and mainly dry but remaining windy into the evening.

Chance of cloud-free hill tops

20%, becoming 80% by mid-afternoon.

Low cloud and visibility

Widespread cloud bases down to 300-500m possible in the early morning, especially in the west. Bases higher and more fragmented in the east. Cloud slowly lifting through the late morning, and lifting well above the summits by mid-afternoon. Generally good or very good visibility, although it may be poor in any precipitation and very poor in any low cloud early in the morning.

Ground conditions

No recent ground conditions report available.

Summit specific forecast

The Peak District is home to a wide variety of magnificent hills, moors, outcrops and gritstone edges.

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