Snowdar UK mountain snow forecast for the next 14 days

What it shows

Snowdar is a free mountain snow forecast for peaks in the UK mountain list, from the Highlands and Cairngorms to the Lake District and Snowdonia, plus the Alps and the Andes. Each row is a mountain and each square is a day, shaded by the new snow forecast for it: a trace, 1 to 5 cm, 5 to 15 cm, or 15 cm and over. The last column adds up all 14 days. The map plots the same peaks, and the precipitation button lays RainViewer’s latest radar frame over it so you can see what is falling now.

Where the numbers come from

Peakify takes each mountain’s 14-day forecast from Open-Meteo, which blends national weather models, and asks for it at the height of the summit. Open-Meteo adjusts the temperature for that height, so a 1,000 m top can show snow on a day the valley gets rain. Open-Meteo turns forecast precipitation into snowfall at about 7 cm of snow for each millimetre of water. When you open a row, “snow on the ground” is the model’s lying snow depth for today.

Snowdar reads the 200 most recently updated mountain forecasts and keeps the ones with any snow in the fortnight. Peakify refreshes the popular UK summits early each morning. Other peaks refresh when someone opens their page, so a quiet hill can drop off the list until its forecast updates.

Snow on a summit forecast is not the same as snow in the nearest town. The air cools by roughly 6°C for every 1,000 m of height, so a top at 1,000 m can sit around freezing while the valley is at 6°C and wet. That is why Snowdar works from each summit’s own height.

How to read it

Set “At least” to the smallest daily fall you care about. The default of 1 cm hides dustings. Sort by Soonest to plan the next trip, or by Most snow to see where it will build up. Click a peak’s name for its summit height, today’s snow depth and overnight low, and the number of days with 1 cm or more. Then open the mountain for routes, the hourly summit forecast and its cloud inversion outlook. For a quick look at which hills are white right now, see snow on the mountains today.

Limits

Treat the second week as a trend. Forecast skill falls away after five to seven days, and totals shift between model runs. A fixed 7:1 ratio overstates wet snow near freezing and understates dry powder in a hard frost. Wind strips ridges bare and loads gullies and lee slopes, and a daily total can’t show that. Snowdar tells you nothing about avalanche risk or whether a path is passable. Before a winter walk in Scotland, read the Scottish Avalanche Information Service forecast, and carry an ice axe and crampons you know how to use.

Which UK mountains will get snow this week?

Snowdar opens on UK peaks; sort by Soonest. The snow calendar shows the forecast snowfall for each day of the next 14 days, peak by peak, and the hero shows the date of the next snowfall and the biggest single day.

How accurate is a 14-day UK mountain snow forecast?

The first three days are the most reliable. After five to seven days, read the calendar as a trend, because totals can change a lot between model runs. Check the mountain's own forecast again the day before you go.

Is the snowfall forecast for the summit or the valley?

The summit. Peakify requests each forecast at the summit height, and Open-Meteo adjusts the temperature for that height, so the summit can show snow when the valley below gets rain.

What do the colours in the snow calendar mean?

Each square is one day of new snow. Grey means none and the palest blue a trace under 1 cm. Light blue is 1 to 5 cm, bright blue 5 to 15 cm and navy 15 cm or more. From 1 cm up, the square shows the forecast in centimetres.

Does Snowdar show snow already lying on the ground?

Yes. Click a mountain's name and the row opens to show the model's snow depth for today. It is a model estimate, and it does not show drifts, cornices or bare, wind-scoured ridges.

How often does Snowdar update?

Peakify refreshes popular UK summits early each morning, and any mountain refreshes when someone opens its page and its forecast is more than three hours old. The Snowdar list itself caches for an hour.