Mountain Weather

Overview

The following video from the UK  Met Office gives a good explanation of the general points surrounding mountain weather, including:

  • Wind -The wind on the hilltops tends to be stronger than an ground level, and you should allow for this when planning your walk.
  • Wind chill -When you check the weather forecast and see the temperature and wind speed, the wind speed on the top of a hill is likely to be double or more of that in the valley.  If the temperature is cool too, there’s a danger that it’s going to feel a lot colder than you think.  For example, at 6°C with a 30 mph wind, it will feel like zero degrees on exposed skin, and at zero degrees with a 30 mph wind it will feel like -8°C.  Quite a difference to the quoted air temperature.  Also, don’t forget that the air temperature drops between 1 and 3 degrees for every 1,000 ft (300 metres) of height, so what you see on the BBC can be significantly different in practice on the mountain.
  • Low cloud

 

 

For an up-to-date weather forecast go to: www.aemet.es