Conditions

A wintry turn arrived by today's observations, with cold temperatures leading to icy conditions across large areas of the mountain, and some snow having fallen overnight. There was also snow falling during the day with more substantial snow beginning to develop on the mountain.

The main difficulty on the paths was icy conditions underfoot, with ice lying on the path in places, and many of the stones on the path very slippery due to a frozen surface. This was true of the wide areas of the route at different levels, but became a more significant difficulty above around 650m.

Snow was also seen on the mountain, lying above about 400m, being thin on the whole, and not causing significant problems to begin with, but there was a little more higher up on the mountain, and had drifted and gathered in some places. The snow was soft and light on the whole, but concealed icy areas in a number of places, where considerable care was needed to avoid slipping on ice unexpectedly under a thin layer of soft snow.

The effect of the wind on the snow was increasingly evident higher on the mountain, with snow drifting and gathering in some places, but above Bwlch Glas the path had been scroured by the wind leaving only a little snow lying in this area. Despite the lack of significant snow above Bwlch Glas, it was very icy and slippery underfoot between here and the summit.

A cloudy and windy day with snow falling across large areas of the mountain.

With snow continuing to develop under the influence of significant wind at the time of the observations, it is likely that more snow will lie on the mountain by the end of the day, and that conditions will be different again by Saturday morning, and possibly even more challenging (see Additional Information below).

Essential equipment
Suitable seasonal walking equipment, including lighting (such as a headtorch or two each).

Carrying an ice axe and mountaineering crampons will offer safer options on the mountain. With variable and possibly thin conditions microspikes could also be useful.

Carrying goggles (such as ski goggles) will offer a means of protecting the eyes to see more easily in order to travel more safely on the mountain.

On the Friday of the report the forecast suggests that the temperature at the summit will be below freezing to begin with, with significant periods above freezing, and significant periods below freezing at times from Saturday afternoon onwards. The temperature at the summit is forecast to be as low as -3ºC (feeling like it is as low as -13ºC at times).

Precipitation is forecast at times, with snow possible for periods, and rain more likely at other times. Snow is likely during the rest of Friday across large areas of the mountain, possibly Sunday night into Monday, with some possibility higher on the mountain at other times.

This means that wintry conditions are likely to exist widely on the mountain on Saturday morning, with more significant snow than was seen during today's observations likely, and the possibility of increasingly icy areas as well. From mid-Saturday onwards periods of freezing are likely, but also periods of rapid thawing at times, and wintry conditions may come and go, but areas of ice or snow possibly causing problems throughout much of the period until the next report on Tuesday.

There is also a forecast for windy periods, with periods of very poor visibility possible.