WEATHER AND OTHER FORECASTS
UK climbing is most definitely weather dependent, you may want to avoid the rain, bask in the sun or shiver in the snow and ice and while forecasting the UK's weather is far from an exact science checking the forecast can't do any harm and can save the day. The following sites seem to be reasonably accurate but remember that it is always best to check more than one. We have covered tides on a separate page owing to the size of the tide tables.
The Met Office allows you to get forecasts for specific locations up to 8 days in advance. They also do a long term forecast
On-the-day planning can be informed by Rainfall Radar, many a day can be saved by using it to dodge showers or bands of rain.
The Mountain Weather Information Service gives specific forecasts for the UK's mountain areas.
Metcheck is worth a look as are AccuWeather and Mountain Forecast.
Strangely enough the weather site run by a partnership of The Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, yr.no, provides some great forecasts, possibly because their weather, like ours, is dominated by The Atlantic Ocean. This site is particularly good for winter climbers as it is a good predictor of snowfall.
Other forecasts:
If you are winter climbing in Scotland visiting The Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) before setting out is a must.
If you are thinking of trying to find winter conditions in The Lakes or Eryri visit The BMC Live Conditions Monitoring site. In The Lakes it is also worth checking the daily Fell Top Assessors' Reports which are updated daily over the winter months.
Sea state forecasts maybe helpful when planning sea-cliff adventures: Surfine.com
For summer rock climbing in Scotland you are strongly advised to check the Scottish Midge Forecast, if you don't you may live to regret it!
Finally, to see if you are likely to be in for a visual nightime treat it is worth signing up for Aurora Watch.
If you come across other sites that you think would be useful to share please let our webmanager know using Contact Us.
