What should I know about weather conditions for Winter Hillwalking in Scotland?
You should know that the weather in the Scottish mountains can be incredibly unpredictable and change rapidly.
What at one moment seems to be a beautiful and relatively benign winters day can descend into gale force winds, sleet and snow, spindrift, minimum visibility and minus 20 wind chill within a matter of hours, if not less.
Understanding the weather conditions should form a key component of the pre planning for your winter hillwalking day. Your route choice and mountain location should be heavily influenced by the weather conditions. Some key items to consider are:
- The Mountain Weather Information Service forecast – MWIS
- Wind direction and speed
- Precipitation
- Snow conditions
- Avalanche forecast – Scottish Avalanche Information Service
The one weather aspect that will most likely mean cancelling your winter hillwalking day is the wind. Snow, rain, low cloud and even avalanche risk can all be addressed through careful location and route planning.
However, if gusts of 50 mph and beyond are forecast, its probably time to consider postponing your adventure. On exposed and rocky ground, the risks are just too high. Walking becomes very difficult and unstable. Unexpected gusts can easily knock hillwalkers over – and on an exposed winter ridge this could be catastrophic.
