The promised drier and brighter period for Saturday afternoon did not arrive, never the less a decent number of people about the Plateau Cafe sledging and playing in the snow.

This evening the spot forecast from the Met Office mesoscale UKV model shows <5% chance of precipitation under mostly clear to part cloudy skies. It's currently pishing it down in the carpark!

That just about sums up the forecast situation for the remainder of 2024 and into the start of the New Year. Very unsettled and very uncertain, it has a feeling of just about anything could happen.

What is clear in weather terms is that a number of fairly deep low pressure systems are going to track through, whether they pass North, South or over Scotland will determine where the boundary between incessant rainfall and potentially significant snowfalls occur up to Hogmanay.

At this stage it looks like initially much more snow will fall to even fairly low levels over the Northern Highlands than at the ski areas up to later Hogmanay, but then there is growing confidence in the forecast data of much colder air surging south by the turn of the year or during New Years Day.

Wind permitting the Access Chair will be open every day through the New Year Period, first chair up at 9am, last chair up at 3.45 and last chair down at 4pm. If you are planning on sledging it is recommended to arrive by 2pm to get reasonable time on the hill and please check latest weather / chair status before travelling!