•England Club Fields

•Mountain Weather

•Mountain Forecast Discussion

•Webcams and Weather Stations

Limited beginner terrain on offer at the 3 Eastern areas, mainly on machine made snow. The Glencoe sledge park is open for family fun in the West and is included in the price of a chairlift ticket.

Gale Force NW winds could affect higher uplift and the Glencoe Access Chair on New Years Day, as temperature drops drifting snow will affect East Coast access roads to progressively lower levels during New Years Day.

Hogmanay did not see a repeat of the bluebird penultimate day of 2025, with increasingly turbulent NW winds bringing an early close for the Glencoe Access Chairlift and cancelling the planned twilight snowsports sessions on CairnGorm for both the 31st and New Years Day.

New Years Day will dawn with much lower temperatures and hefty snow showers moving in from the North, falling as snow to progressively lower levels. Significant snowfall for some locations in the coming days with upwards of 30cm mentioned for higher terrain in the Met Office warning for Thu/Fri and a potential repeat for Sat/Sun. At this stage the Lecht and CairnGorm look likely to catch the most snowfall over the coming days out of the five snowsports areas, but in these convective shower setups it can be hit or miss and exact wind direction can be critical.

Troughs / fronts or even potential mesoscale convective features / polar lows could form in the very unstable Northerly as very cold air aloft moves over still relatively warm sea surface temperatures around Northern Scotland. These could bring more widespread snowfall and potentially change the onshore wind direction, shifting the focus for the heavier snowfalls over the coming days.

As we move through Thursday, drifting snow will affect the East Coast access roads to progressively lower elevations, so be prepared to for deteriorating travel conditions. Do have a shovel, do not have summer tyres that could be mistaken for a bald eagle!

On CairnGorm snowsports passes are sold out for 1st Jan, 2nd Jan, 3rd Jan with only morning beginner session tickets currently available on Sunday. More terrain may be able to open with the forecast snow, but wind may prevent the Top Basin tows from running even as terrain fills in.

The Funicular is due to open with the last train up at 3.30pm and last train down at 4.30pm. There is no skiable terrain from the funicular at this time, just access to the Polar Express and snow patches on the Ptarmigan Traverse.

Glenshee has the Dink Dink and beginner rope tow operating. These have a good base of machine made snow. During the holidays pre-booking lift tickets is advisable due to limited slope capacity at present. Snow making continues on the intermediate old plastic slope run.

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 chair closed early afternoon on Hogmanay, and the NW wind direction is particularly unpredictable at Glencoe, so check latest status AM on New Years Day (and if possible check for updates on route if travelling any distance).

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.

:: 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 8pm in the West at the Glencoe SSC hut at 850m the mid mountain temperature was +0.4°c, wind at 32 gusting 84mph. At Base level it was +4.4°c.

The SAIS summit AWS on Aonach Mor was reporting -1.6°c. The Met Office station was reporting a West wind at 25 gusting 50mph. It was -0.5°c at 680m at the CIC Hut. At Tulloch Station (237m) the temperature was +5.0°c.

In the East the CairnGorm the Met Office Summit AWS reported -2.6°c with a Westerly at a mean of 65 gusting 101mph. Aviemore was at +4.8°c at 8pm.

The Met Office Cairnwell AWS (3061ft /934m) reported -0.6°c with a North West wind at a mean of 37 gusting 74mph.

:: Mountain Forecast Discussion

As we start 2026 wintry conditions will increasingly dominate the Highland weather as we move through New Years Day, with a strong northerly airflow bringing progressively cold air southwards overnight and through Thursday, bringing frequent snow showers. A yellow weather warning is currently in place for Thursday through the weekend. Temperatures at 900 m will be well below freezing, with the freezing level lowering to the surface away from immediate coastal terrain by afternoon on New Years Day.

In the West Highlands, winds will be strong to Gale Force North Westerly, around 35 to 40mph with gusts to 65mph possible around heavier showers. With a Munro Level temperature around -4 lowering -6°c by mid to late afternoon, there will be a severe windchill that makes conditions feel colder than -20°c on exposed terrain.

Visibility will be highly variable, good in clearer spells between showers but very poor in falling or blowing snow, best of any brighter periods further South in the West Highlands towards Glencoe Southwards.

Over in the Cairngorms, Thursday is similarly cold and wintry. Temperatures at Munro Level -5 lowering -7°c from the North by dusk. Although some dry intervals and clearer visibility are possible between snow showers further South, the Northern Cairngorms could see the snow showers begin to cluster together into some longer periods of snowfall, with sustained whiteout on higher elevations.

By Friday 2nd deeper cold aloft will have brought the Munro Level temperature down to around -7 to -8°c, freezing at all levels. The cold air aloft moving over still relatively warm sea surfaces will drive convective precipitation, exact wind direction will determine where sees the most snowfall, and the unstable airflow is likely to see the formation of troughs or fronts which will bring near constant snowfall onto mountains exposed to the onshore wind. These are most likely to be the hills of the Northern Highlands and the Northern Cairngorms, the latter catching convective showers moving in from the Moray Firth.

Wind at Munro Level will be around 30 gusting 45mph, but 55mph in and around heavier shower cells. Risk of thunderstorms will give an additional hazard to appalling to zero visibility in snow at height.

For the West Coast ski areas on Friday precipitation is expected to be more showery with some bright or sunny spells intermixed.

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. 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.

A significantly cold and wintry start to the New Year is in prospect, potentially upwards of 50cm of snow could fall in some upland locations by the start of next week.

:: 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.