UKH

Though I’ve grown out of such things I’m just wondering how good this very cold spell has been for winter routes so far. It was -9 last night here (Milnthorpe). Surely this is cold enough for long enough to bring Cautley Spout or Raven Crag Gully into condition, but the are no recent ascents logged. Perhaps lack of water after a long dry summer is preventing good ice formation.

Seen some photos taken yesterday of Cautley and its very thin. I think as it there hasn't been the usual few weeks of colder days and nights before hand the water in the ground was a little too warm, its freezing now but could do with another week. Looks like warmer temps by the weekend though.

It has been very cold recently. However, because this is early in the winter, and because we have just had a record warm November, groundwater temperatures need to fall much further for ice formation than they would if we had this cold snap in late winter (hence how less cold air temperatures froze waterfalls very quickly in March 2018). Also it has generally been very still, and waterfalls freeze more quickly if blasted by strong freezing winds than if the air is still.

I think because it's been so still, there's been some pretty significant temperature inversions. We've had nearly -10 at sea level but the Red Tarn monitor has only seen nightime minimums in the -3 to -6 range 2700ft higher.

Friends who climbed Low Water Beck on Wednesday seemed to confirm this as they said it got thinner as you went higher.

See my other thread How cold?
 

Not the Lakes but I went ice climbing in the Peak last night. Crowden Clough was in the best winter condition I've done it in (3 winter ascents now), it wasn't amazing - there's actually very little real climbing on it, but plentiful water ice and virtually no snow.