Weather Planning – WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR?

This is such a British subject - but one that is very important before we adventure into the outdoors. According to Statista in 2020 there was 46.6% rain in the UK. To put in to context, we spent nearly half the year being rained on. With this information in mind, is weather important for adventures?

The short answer is ‘Yes’. If you are going to be out in the elements, then we need to be fully prepared. We can only do this by checking the forecast.

The weather can give us a lot of information before we even leave the house such as what the terrain is going to be like and what sort of time scale we will be looking at (but it is important to plan for worse as even weatherman get it wrong).

What should we be looking at?:

· Area

· Wind Direction, Speed and strength

· Temperature

· Precipitation

· Sunrise and Sunset times

· Visibility

Area

It's pretty obvious, but make sure you are checking the weather in the area that you are going to be walking in. This is something that can catch people out and so this is why planning your adventures really will make a difference to your experience.

If you are planning to up into the hills and mountains you should be checking the mountain forecasts such as the mountain weather forecast for the met office or Mountain Weather Information Service. These will help to make a real difference to your planning.

Wind Direction, Speed and Strength

It is important to note where the wind is coming from and what it behind it. If a cold front is expected throughout your adventure day but an even colder more winder front is behind it. It would be important to know, as the first front may move away quicker than expected and leave you having to battle out a more severe front while descending the mountain.

Why do we need to know about the speed and strength? Strong winds increase risk of harm for hill walkers, especially in exposed mountainous areas. This increases the risk of the wind literally blowing you off your feet, or in some cases off a mountain.

Wind affects how high it is safe to go and may also dictate the time you have to reach the peak. The wind can pick up even on sunny days - and also dictate route planning, as you may wish to find a more sheltered route.

Temperature

By understanding the temperature you can work out what sort of layering system you may want to take (notice I didn’t say NO layering) as you may require more than 2 layers, even on sunny hot days.

The higher you go the more the temperature drops 1.2c every 1000ft which means that the higher = colder. This is a very common mistake when people go up mountains. Where it is warm at the bottom and they are fine in their shorts and t-shirt and so they don’t take any layers with them, increasing risk of being caught out in the elements.

Precipitation

When checking out the weather it is a good tip to check the precipitation level. On forecasts, they give you a percentage amount of precipitation (rain) this is that number and less. E.G., 40% means 40% less likely. As with the temperature, the higher you go there is more moisture in the air and so there is an even higher risk of you getting wet.

If you are planning to tick multiple peaks and the forecast is saying 40% amount then depending on the wind and air temperature, you are more than likely going to find rain. Take waterproofs!

Sunrise and Sunset

When out hiking in the mountains you may want to make note of the sunrise and sunset times as this can give you a good time frame on the amount of visibility you have to navigate without a head torch. Navigating in the dark can be done but your visibility is drastically reduced (even more if there is a weather front / low cloud etc.). It will also help to support you in making decisions such as when to head down and allowing yourself the right amount of time to do this.

Visibility

When visibility is reduced you could find yourself in a difficult situation. Understanding the weather and the factors at play such as weather fronts allows you to (hopefully) be one step ahead when out on the hill. Making sure you carry a torch, whistle and storm shelter allows you time to wait for visibility to improve.

If you are reading this and you are of the level that you feel you should know more there are many places to find this information such as the Learn About by the met office or School Resources from met office if you’re like me and like it simple or even Learn About Weather met office YouTube channel.

We hope that you have found this useful and will provide you with the information needed when looking at the weather and planning you next adventure.

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