Cairngorms NP and Monadhliath
Cairngorms National Park and Monadhliath. Also includes the Ben Alder area hills between Loch Ericht and Loch Laggan.
Wednesday's Forecast
Windy, walking impeded
Blustery conditions enough to give buffeting on higher terrain or affect balance on exposed ridges. 25 to 40mph.
Patchy cloud and winter sun
Mostly dry with a mix of cloud and sun, patchy cloud occasionally covering some mountain slopes.
Cold
Air temperature below 0C all day on higher mountains. Significant chill factor if exposed to strong winds. Suitable protective clothing required.
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Windy, walking impeded
Blustery conditions enough to give buffeting on higher terrain or affect balance on exposed ridges. 25 to 40mph.
Patchy cloud and winter sun
Mostly dry with a mix of cloud and sun, patchy cloud occasionally covering some mountain slopes.
Cold
Air temperature below 0C all day on higher mountains. Significant chill factor if exposed to strong winds. Suitable protective clothing required.
Viewing Forecast For
Cairngorms NP and Monadhliath
Wednesday 31st December 2025
Last updated
Tue 30th Dec 25 at
4:28PM
Summary for all mountain areas
Much terrain frozen, frost into valleys and glens in the morning, all day out of sunlight, but temperature and freezing level tending to lift toward 800m from west. Showery rain and hill snow moving into W-NW Scotland. Wind strengthening, becoming gales over tops in Scotland during day, then N England after dark.
Headline for Cairngorms NP and Monadhliath
Increasingly windy, gales later tops. Local snow flurries develop.
How windy? (On the Munros)
Westerly 20 to 30mph early morning, increasing through day to 40mph, reaching 50-60mph higher Cairngorms into evening. Turning northwesterly but remaining 50-60mph onward into night.
Effect of the wind on you?
Be prepared for increasingly fairly arduous conditions through the day with significant buffeting and wind chill. More challenging later over higher areas.
How Wet?
Mostly dry
Largely dry, especially toward Deeside, but a few patches of light rain and snow develop from the west afternoon. Snow falling above 500 to later 800m. More frequent rain and hill snow in the evening hours; snow and hail falling toward lower slopes further into night.
Cloud on the hills?
Lowering onto hills from west
Many mountains start largely clear, but increasingly low cloud will move in from the west to cover upper slopes or tops, mostly above 800-900m. Eastern mountains clearer, patches forming more widely later.
Chance of cloud free Munros?
40% in west, 70% in east.
Sunshine and air clarity?
Patches of sun, increasingly confined to east and cloud builds in. Visibility mostly very good, but poorer later in any precipitation.
How Cold? (at 900m)
0 or -1C; will then drop to -4C into night. Feeling like -10 to -15C in the strongest winds during day.
Freezing Level
Freezing at all levels in the morning, well below freezing in glens, before freezing level rises through day to 700-900m. Then overnight lowering to 500m.
Viewing Forecast For
Cairngorms NP and Monadhliath
Thursday 1st January 2026
Last updated
Tue 30th Dec 25 at
4:28PM
How windy? (On the Munros)
Northwesterly 40 to 60mph, strongest higher Cairngorms, squally gusts in showers.
Effect of the wind on you?
Arduous walking conditions in exposure, difficult with constant buffeting high tops. Significant wind chill, severe higher up.
How Wet?
Snow and hail, most often north
Showers or sometimes more persistent falls of snow moving across the northern Cairngorms and Monadhliath, also hail, falling to lower slopes. Less precipitation toward Glen Garry.
Cloud on the hills?
Often covering tops
Cloud base varying, but often capping higher slopes above 700-900m, most persistent northern areas. Some breaks above 900-1000m Drumochter to Deeside.
Chance of cloud free Munros?
30%
Sunshine and air clarity?
Largely cloudy north, glimpses of sun more often south. Visibility very poor for periods in snow and cloud, but intermittently very good.
How Cold? (at 900m)
-3C (-5C high tops), falling to -5 to -7C into night. Wind chill feeling like -15C, to -20C higher Cairngorms.
Freezing Level
Near or below freezing from the glens upward; most terrain frozen.
Viewing Forecast For
Cairngorms NP and Monadhliath
Friday 2nd January 2026
Last updated
Tue 30th Dec 25 at
4:28PM
How windy? (On the Munros)
Northerly 30 to 40mph, at times 50mph higher Cairngorms.
Effect of the wind on you?
Severe wind chill over the mountains. Frequent buffeting in exposure, often arduous walking on higher terrain.
How Wet?
Near-constant snow and hail
Heavy showers merging into more persistent snow coming in from the north, snow and hail falling and accumulating to lowest slopes. Frequent whiteout over the mountains. Risk of isolated thunder.
Cloud on the hills?
Fairly extensive higher areas
Often covering the mountains above 800m, at times 600m in northern Cairngorms. Higher and more varied bases southward, some breaks above 1000m more often.
Chance of cloud free Munros?
20% north, to 40% south.
Sunshine and air clarity?
Brief bursts of sun, most often south. Visibility often appalling due to snow falling or blowing and where also in cloud; but intermittently very good.
How Cold? (at 900m)
-6C (to -8 or -9C at 1200-1300m). Wind chill feeling like -17 to -22C on tops.
Freezing Level
Terrain widely frozen, sub-zero all day glens upward.
Planning Outlook
Significantly cold wintry conditions into the start of January. Air temperature well below freezing on high terrain, plus low minima into many glens and valleys with sustained hard frost. Strong northerly winds later this week giving severe wind chill. Frequent and heavy snow showers moving into northern areas and running down coastal extremities with significant accumulations. Elsewhere, lots of dry and sunny weather, although occasional organised bands of snow will feed south at times in the Arctic airflow. Staying cold into next week with scope for snowfalls more widely.