•England Club Fields

•Mountain Weather

•Mountain Forecast Discussion

•Webcams and Weather Stations

Glencoe will be selling the old chairs from the Access Chair this Sunday (14th Dec) from noon - rather than an auction as originally planned, the chairs will be sold at 300quid fixed price, pay at the Ticket Office and it will be first come, first choice of the chairs. Each chair has been fitted with a stainless steel 'Glencoe Mountain' plate.

Friday was a brief respite from the stormy conditions, with a largely fine day under a transient ridge thrown up ahead of a very deep low pressure system to the SW of Iceland. Alas that ridge is not going to hang about for the weekend and wind speeds will freshen again overnight, before Storm Force winds and heavy rain set into the West by late morning. There is a yellow heavy rain warning covering a swath of the West Highlands from noon Saturday until noon Sunday.

The early season snowsports on CairnGorm have ground to a halt for the time being with just a patchy partial base remaining in the Top Basin and at the top of the mid mountain runs. Away from the highest parts of the Northern Corries there is really only small patches of snow left and these will take a further hit over the weekend.

It is almost certain there will not be any resumption of lift served snowsports on natural snow in the coming week, though there are some indications of the unsettled weather trending cooler towards the end of next week. However it is envisaged that the Daylodge beginner area on CairnGorm will open weekend of 20/21 Dec with the magic carpets on machine made snow.

Glenshee are also aiming to open some beginner terrain the weekend before Christmas and Glencoe hopes to open the sledge park the same weekend. The snow pile at the Plateau Cafe will not be pushed out this weekend due to the appalling forecast!

The Access Chair is very unlikely to operate at the weekend, unless first thing Saturday and late Sunday, but even that looks unlikely as the duration of the highest winds and heaviest rain both appear to be extending on the most recent forecast model runs. In the event it does, the snow piles are available for snow play, but lift served canoeing might be more suitable.

The Plateau Cafe will open for the season when either skiing or sledging starts, or for the school holidays. First chair up at 9am, last chair up at 3.30pm and last chair down at 4pm. White Corries Cafe at the base is open 8am to 4.30pm at present and will revert to an 8.30pm close for the holidays.

It is worth noting that even in years where like this year there has been a November start to the season on CairnGorm, this is not an uncommon situation approaching mid December. As very often early season snow is largely lost again by mid December. Seeing an opening before New Year is very unusual in the West, with the historical average season start for Glencoe being around mid January.

The Nevis Range Gondola is open daily at present (wind permitting) with the last gondola up at 3.45pm and last down at 4pm. The Gondola will be closed from Monday 5th January, until early February.

:: England Club Fields

The three Pennine Clubfields all enjoyed a November start to their season, with Allenheads and Weardale notching up the first lift served UK snow turns of the season. There has not yet been sufficient snow at Raise in the Lake District and all clubfields are currently waiting for new snow.

For both Weardale and Allenheads, you need to join the club with a season pass, these are still available for both at this time.

Please check club access rules / availability if not a club member / pass holder.

Weardale: https: //skiweardale.com/ .
Allenheads: http://ski-allenheads.co.uk/ .
Yad Moss: https: //yadmoss.co.uk/ .
Raise: https: //www.ldscsnowski.co.uk/ .

:: Mountain Weather

At 7pm in the West at the Glencoe SSC hut at 850m the mid mountain temperature was +1.8°c, with a SW wind at a mean of 15 gusting 29mph. At the base it was +6.3°c.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting -0.6°c. The Met Office station was reporting a South West wind at 37 gusting 65mph. The Tower 17 AWS on the Gondola was offline. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +6°c.

In the East the CairnGorm the Met Office Summit AWS reported -1.2°c with SW wind at a mean of 46 gusting 68mph. Aviemore was at +6°c at 7pm.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS (3061ft /934m) reported +0.5°c with a SW wind at a mean of 30 gusting 38 mph.

:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

As Fridays transient ridge moves away the South Westerly wind is already picking up this evening, with a return to Storm Force mountain winds by mid to late morning on Saturday. Likely Hurricane Force on higher summits and plateau areas by dusk.

Any post dawn brightness will be fleeting in the West, cloud will soon thicken and showers blown in by the strengthening wind will arrive mid morning with persistent heavy rain setting in by the end of the morning and now expected to persist on Western coastal hills into the early hours of Monday morning. Dawn on Saturday should see the Munro Level temperature around 0°c and the rain may arrive before the freezing level lifts above all summits, so some locations may see a period of freezing rain. At Munro Level the temperature will climb to +4°c by dusk in West, perhaps +5°c in the East.

While the East Highlands will not escape the rain, it should start later and be lighter and less persistent on Saturday during daylight hours, with a more showery regime on Sunday where there might be some brighter interludes, these more likely the more North East one is. Hills to the West of the A9 are likely to see a good deal more rain than further East.

Munro Level temperature on Sunday is likely to rise further to be around +5 to +6°c in the West Highlands, but as high as +7 to +8°c in the Eastern Cairngorms, before the temperature falls back in the early hours of Monday as the rain starts to clear.

Daytime Monday should be dry across the Highland mountains with varying amounts of bright / sunny spells, these more extensive towards the East with a moderate to strong SE wind continuing. Around 0 lowering minus 1°c at Munro Level.

:: Webcams and Weather Stations

Lowther Hill: Leadhills webcam is online (24/7).

GLENCOE: All mountain webcams online and the first updated images will be shortly after 8am. The sledge park camera is online 24/7. Wind speed is available from base and mid mountain.