Andrew Chick Ecology

Skiddaw is one of the great mountains of the Lake District, rising immediately to the north of Keswick in Cumbria. At 931 metres (3,054 feet), it is the fourth-highest mountain in England and one of the most recognisable fells in the northern Lake District. Its broad, sweeping slopes dominate the landscape around Keswick and Bassenthwaite Lake, and on a clear day the summit provides tremendous views across the surrounding fells and far beyond.

But occasionally Skiddaw offers something even more memorable – the chance to stand above the clouds during a temperature inversion.

A cloud inversion occurs when a layer of cold, moist air becomes trapped close to the ground beneath warmer, drier air above it. Normally, air becomes cooler as altitude increases, but during an inversion this pattern is reversed. If conditions are right, mist and low cloud form in the valleys while the higher fell tops remain in clear air and sunshine.

From below, such a morning can look thoroughly unpromising. Keswick and the surrounding valleys may be enveloped in grey mist, with the mountains completely hidden. Start climbing, however, and something remarkable can happen. As you gain height the cloud begins to thin, the light brightens and suddenly you emerge through the top of it into brilliant sunshine.

Reaching the summit of Skiddaw during an inversion can be an extraordinary experience. Instead of looking down onto the familiar landscape of lakes, fields, roads and villages, you find yourself standing above what appears to be an enormous sea of white cloud. Only the highest surrounding summits break through the surface, appearing almost like islands.

The experience can be particularly spectacular around sunrise or early in the morning, when the low sun catches the upper surface of the cloud. The world below remains hidden beneath the mist while the summits are bathed in sunlight, sometimes beneath an intensely blue sky. On exceptional days, distant mountains can appear above the cloud many miles away.

There is also something wonderfully strange about knowing that, beneath your feet, people may be experiencing a cold, grey and misty morning while you are standing in warm sunshine looking down upon the clouds.

Of course, an inversion is never guaranteed. Conditions have to come together at just the right time, and even when an inversion forms, the cloud may rise and engulf the summit or disappear before you reach it. That uncertainty is part of what makes witnessing one so special.

Skiddaw is impressive on any clear day, but reaching its summit and discovering a sea of cloud spread across the Lake District below is one of those mountain experiences that is difficult to forget.