•England Club Fields

•Mountain Weather

•Mountain Forecast Discussion

•Webcams and Weather Stations

AMBER WARNING for snow covers the 3 Eastern snowsports areas through noon Saturday. Top Basin back open on CairnGorm, runs filling in at the Lecht. Heaviest falls of snow have been in the Northern Highlands.

If you have been out on slopes please send photos the email at the foot of this page!

At update the A939 Lecht Pass, A93 Cairnwell Pass and the CairnGorm Ski Road are closed at their respective snow gates.

Snow showers continue to pile in from the North this evening. Radar data suggests around 12 to 14cm of snowfall on CairnGorm so far today and 14 to 18cm for the Lecht. With relatively strong winds continuing and very dry powdery snow at height, there is significant drifting, so a level covering of snow there is not!

At the Lecht all fenced runs are filling in, but the tops are somewhat scoured. WInd speeds are due to ease back into the weekend, so hopefully more snow will stick to the tops of the runs as it does so as the NNW wind direction is blowing snow across the fence lines. There is likely to be significant drifting across parts of the A939, so it may not open on Saturday with the Amber Warning in place till lunchtime.

Fewer of the shower cells have made it through to Glenshee on Friday compared to New Years Day afternoon, so only a cm or so of new snow during Friday. However, thanks to the snow making efforts the Plastic Slope Poma is now ready to open giving some progression terrain with a short blue run. The A93 Cairnwell Pass was kept closed on Friday by the Police due to the weather warnings, but the road has been ploughed and gritted and was looking fairly clear on the ski centre webcam late afternoon, so should have more chance of being opened on Saturday morning than the Lecht road.

CairnGorm was able to reopen the Ptarmigan T-bar around lunchtime on Friday, giving the first main run terrain since early December, but it is thin and narrow through the Ptarmigan Bowl, though decent along the Ptarmigan Traverse. Not suitable for novices, but should improve as snow showers continue to come in and the N to NW wind speeds lower. It is expected that the Ciste Tow will open on Saturday serving the Ciste Fairway. The Traverse is filling in, but not much was sticking mid mountain as yet. The best area for novices is the Daylodge level magic carpets which have a good machine made base under the fresh snow, giving excellent snow conditions for learning.

The Lecht and CairnGorm look likely to catch the most snowfall over the coming days out of the five snowsports areas, with the Lecht edging it on the mesoscale models. The NNW wind direction is also more favourable to the Lecht, blowing snow across the main run fence lines, so it is likely to be the Lecht that has the biggest increase in terrain on offer when the weather settles down a bit.

At Glencoe, the Sledge Park is now open daily (wind permitting). It is advisable to arrive before 2pm at the latest for sledging to get a decent amount of time on the hill. First chair up at 9am, last chair up at 3.45pm and last chair down at 4pm. White Corries Cafe at the base is now open 8am to 8pm daily. The Sledge Park is notably quieter before 11.30am.

The Nevis Range Gondola is presently open daily (wind permitting) with the last gondola up at 3.45pm and last down at 4pm until Sunday 4th January, after which all facilities at Nevis Range will be closed until further notice. So not even assisted access for tourers and winter climbers.

:: 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. Current forecast model data indicates little if any snowfall for the Club Fields in the next 4 to 5 days, such is often the nature of showery airflows directly out of the Northern quadrant. However, significant troughs of frontal systems could pop up in such unstable flows at fairly short notice.

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 8pm in the West at the Glencoe SSC hut at 850m the mid mountain temperature was -5.7°c, wind at 20 gusting 46mph. At Base level (366m) it was -1.1°c.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting -8.0°c. The Met Office station was reporting a North North West wind at 19 gusting 29mph. It was -6.3°c at 680m at the CIC Hut. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was -1.9°c.

In the East the CairnGorm the Met Office Summit AWS reported -8.4°c with a North North Westerly at a mean of 23 gusting 47mph. Aviemore was at -1.4°c at 8pm.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS (3061ft /934m) reported -7.3°c with a NNW wind at a mean of 47 gusting 57mph.

:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

2026 has got off to a distinctly seasonal start, with it now freezing at most levels and snow showers falling down to sea level. An Amber warning for snow covers the 3 East Coast ski areas through to Noon on Saturday, though Glenshee is likely to see considerably less snow than the Northern Cairngorms. A separate area of the Amber warning covers a swathe of the Northern Highlands, and this is where the heaviest precipitation has been on the radar during Friday. So potentially some less visited spots could have good backcountry / touring potential!

Into the weekend and both Saturday and Sunday are expected to see frequent snow showers continue, with visibility often reduced to near zero in precipitation or drifting snow. The Lecht and CairnGorm again are likely to see the most snow showers out of the ski areas, with the showers merging into longer spells of snow on Saturday morning. Still gusty around squally snow showers, but wind speeds should be less sustained than Thursday or Friday. Sub Zero at all levels, between -6 and -8°c at Munro Level.

Monday is expected to see a mixture of sunny spells and snow showers on a moderate NW wind. Freezing Level at the surface, with -6 to -7°c at Munro Level.

Early indications that frontal systems could bring more significant mountain snowfall into the West Highlands towards the middle of the week, fairly equal split between fluctuating freezing level / temperatures next week and a more sustained cold spell.

:: Webcams and Weather Stations

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

GLENCOE: All mountain webcams online and the first updated images will be around 8.15am. The mid mountain weather station wind vane failed due to nearby lightning. Windspeed and other parameters are OK.