Lochaber
Aonach Mòr Weather
Mountain forecast and current conditions · summit 1220m
Current conditions
Daylight Today
- Sunrise
- 06:50
- Sunset
- 19:40
- Civil dawn
- 06:12
- Civil dusk
- 20:19
NOAA Solar Calculator · 15 September 2026
About the weather here
Aonach Mòr (1,220m) is the eighth-highest Munro and the only one with a gondola on it — the Nevis Range ski area runs up its north-western flank to 655m, which makes the summit plateau reachable in a way no other big Lochaber hill is. That accessibility is exactly why its weather catches people out: the top is a broad, near-featureless plateau at over 1,200m, a few hundred metres of ascent from a lift station where the conditions can look ordinary.
What to expect
Aonach Mòr sits in the wettest corner of Scotland, in the same weather as Ben Nevis a couple of kilometres west. Cloud sits on the plateau for much of the year and the gondola frequently runs into it. The plateau is high enough to hold its own weather: temperature drops of 8–10°C between the top station and the summit are ordinary, and rain at the car park is often snow above 900m from October to May.
Wind exposure
Severe on the plateau, which offers no shelter at all — it is a flat, open table at 1,200m with the Atlantic to the west. The back corries on the east side are more sheltered but hold cornices. The gondola stops running in high winds, and a day that starts on the lift can end with a long walk down the ski road.
Winter conditions
The plateau edge above the east-facing back corries cornices heavily and the cornice line is where the ski area boundary sits, so the hazard is next to ground that feels developed. Aonach Mòr is inside the SAIS Lochaber forecast area, which is the one to read before committing to the plateau rim or any of the corrie descents. Navigation off a featureless plateau in cloud is the other winter problem: there is very little to take a bearing from.
Avalanche forecast: Aonach Mòr is in the SAIS Lochaber forecast area — the link is in the official forecasts below.
Official forecasts
Always check an official mountain forecast before setting out. Current conditions displayed above are from the Open-Meteo API and are indicative only.
Hills in this area
| Hill | Height |
|---|---|
| Aonach Beag | 1234m |
| Carn Mor Dearg | 1220m |
| Ben Nevis (Beinn Nibheis) | 1345m |
| Sgurr Choinnich Mor | 1094m |
Frequently asked questions
- Can you walk Aonach Mòr from the gondola?
- Yes, and it is the usual route — the gondola takes you to 655m and the walk continues up the ski area and onto the plateau. It is still a full mountain day above the top station, on ground that reaches 1,220m with no shelter.
- Does the gondola run in bad weather?
- Not in high winds. Nevis Range closes the gondola when it is too windy to run safely, which can happen with no warning during the day. Plan for the possibility of walking down the ski road if you are on the hill when it stops.
- Which avalanche forecast covers Aonach Mòr?
- SAIS Lochaber. The hill sits inside that forecast area and the link is in the official forecasts on this page. The back corries and the plateau rim are the ground the forecast is describing.
- Why is navigation hard on Aonach Mòr?
- The summit plateau is flat and almost featureless, so in cloud there is nothing to navigate by. The drop into the back corries is corniced in winter, which makes a careless bearing genuinely dangerous rather than just inconvenient.
Weather for other locations
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