About the data
Where the figures come from and how to read them.
Where it comes from
The figures are a computer weather forecast from the Met Office's 2 km model, supplied through Open-Meteo. They are updated four times a day. Nothing on this page is a measurement from a weather station.
"Retrieved" is when we last fetched the forecast. Fresh means within 8 hours, Stale means older than that, and after 24 hours the forecast is hidden rather than shown out of date.
Two heights
Each location shows the valley and 800 m. The 800 m figures are the forecast adjusted for height, not a separate summit forecast. For the tops, read MWIS and the Met Office mountain forecast as well.
The freezing level shown is the lowest for the day. Below 800 m means the tops could see snow or ice at some point.
Visibility
"Vis" is how far the forecast expects you to be able to see through the air, with the lowest value of the day in the table. Under 1 km means hill fog or heavy rain; a few km means hazy; 20 km or more means very clear air. It is a rough guide, not a measurement, and it says nothing about cloud sitting on the tops or ridges in the way.
Past 7 days
The past week shows the same forecast model's figures for each day that has gone. They are useful for seeing what the week was like, but nobody measured the rain or snow, so treat the totals as an indication, not a record.
Days are listed most recent first. Arrows show where the temperature, gusts, rain, snow or freezing level moved up or down from the day before. Amber is up, blue is down. The colours show direction only, not whether the change is good or bad.
Icons and arrows
The weather icon for a day is the worst daytime weather expected at 800 m. A small second icon appears when the valley is different. Wind arrows point the way the wind is blowing; the letters say where it comes from.
What the page does not do
- It does not judge risk or say whether to go out. A highlighted number only means it is above 40 mph for gusts or 20 mm for rain.
- It does not know what snow or ice is already on the ground.
- Where the forecast has no value, the page shows n/a rather than guessing.
Locations
| Name | Valley height | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Duddon Valley | 100 m | Ulpha / Seathwaite |
| Coniston | 60 m | Coniston village; Old Man at 800 m |
| Eskdale / Scafell | 80 m | Boot; Scafell range at 800 m |
| Black Combe | 50 m | Whicham; summit at 600 m |
| Broughton | 20 m | Broughton-in-Furness, sea-level reference |
You can also look up any point in Cumbria by grid reference, postcode or latitude and longitude.