Climbing Forecast › Scotland - Islands — Orkney › Old Man of Hoy

SCOTLAND - ISLANDS — ORKNEY · SANDSTONE

Old Man of Hoy weather & climbing conditions

Poor — wet, too windy or closed

Right now

Temp9°C
Wind7 km/h
Gusts11 km/h
Humidity96.7%
Rain 48h0.8mm
Last rain1h ago

Assessment

1.8mm rain forecast
Do not climb wet sandstone
Humidity 96.7% — potential fog/cloud, rock may be damp from condensation
Check sandstone is genuinely dry — condensation can wet the surface

Drying Time

2% dry · 29-58h to dry

7-day forecast

Scroll through each day — hourly detail is shown inline.

Today Saturday 31 October
Poor
Temp9°C
Rain2mm
Wind33 km/h
Gusts11 km/h
Humidity97%
1.8mm rain forecastDo not climb wet sandstone
  • Wet sandstone is slippery — let the rock dry before leading
  • Breezy — helps drying
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
09:00 — 0.4mm — — null%
17:00 9° 0.4mm 7 — 96.7%
18:00 9° 0.4mm 5 — 97.1%
19:00 9° 0.3mm 6 — 97%
20:00 9° 0.2mm 18 — 95.2%
21:00 9° 0.1mm 28 — 93.7%
Sun Sunday 1 November
Caution
Temp9°C
Rain0.1mm
Wind32 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity63%
Drying — 17h since rainSandstone may still hold subsurface moisture
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
  • Breezy — helps drying
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 8° dry 27 — 78.5%
07:00 8° dry 28 — 81.8%
08:00 8° dry 32 — 79%
09:00 9° dry 35 — 73.9%
10:00 9° dry 35 — 67.3%
11:00 9° dry 34 — 60.5%
12:00 9° dry 34 — 59.6%
13:00 9° dry 33 — 60.5%
14:00 9° dry 31 — 62.8%
15:00 9° dry 31 — 64.3%
16:00 9° dry 29 — 64.7%
17:00 9° dry 28 — 65.3%
18:00 9° dry 27 — 66.5%
19:00 9° dry 27 — 67.4%
20:00 9° dry 26 — 68%
21:00 9° dry 24 — 70.3%
Mon Monday 2 November
Caution
Temp10°C
Rain0.1mm
Wind21 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity83%
Should be drySandstone may still hold subsurface moisture
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
  • Breezy — helps drying
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 9° dry 26 — 80.9%
07:00 9° dry 24 — 81.8%
08:00 9° dry 22 — 83.7%
09:00 9° dry 22 — 81.3%
10:00 10° dry 22 — 79.5%
11:00 10° dry 21 — 80.9%
12:00 10° dry 21 — 82.6%
13:00 10° dry 23 — 83.7%
14:00 10° dry 23 — 81.7%
15:00 9° dry 21 — 86%
16:00 9° dry 18 — 87.9%
17:00 9° dry 19 — 90.3%
18:00 9° dry 19 — 92%
19:00 9° dry 18 — 92.9%
20:00 9° dry 17 — 95.2%
21:00 9° dry 16 — 96%
Tue Tuesday 3 November
Caution
Temp10°C
Raindry
Wind8 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity84%
Should be drySandstone may still hold subsurface moisture
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 9° dry 5 — 95.2%
12:00 10° dry 8 — 84%
18:00 8° dry 8 — 91.4%
Wed Wednesday 4 November
Good
Temp9°C
Raindry
Wind5 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity88%
Should be dry
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 6° dry 6 — 96.1%
12:00 9° dry 5 — 87.7%
18:00 7° dry 5 — 92.2%
Thu Thursday 5 November
Good
Temp9°C
Rain0.1mm
Wind4 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity88%
Should be dry
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 7° dry 7 — 94.7%
12:00 9° dry 4 — 87.5%
18:00 8° dry 4 — 80.6%
Fri Friday 6 November
Good
Temp8°C
Raindry
Wind2 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity80%
Should be dry
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 6° dry 3 — 88%
12:00 8° dry 2 — 80.3%
18:00 7° dry 2 — 80%
Sat Saturday 7 November
Good
Temp8°C
Raindry
Wind9 km/h
Gusts—
Humidity73%
Should be dry
  • Hard sandstone climbs well when dry
Time °C Rain Wind (km/h) Gust Hum
06:00 6° dry 5 — 83.3%
12:00 8° dry 9 — 73.2%
18:00 6° dry 5 — 80.3%

About Old Man of Hoy

The Old Man of Hoy is Britain's most famous sea stack — a 137-metre pillar of Old Red Sandstone standing off the western cliffs of Hoy in Orkney, first climbed by Chris Bonington, Tom Patey and Rusty Baillie in 1966 and made household-name-famous by the BBC live broadcast the following year. The rock is Devonian sandstone, harder and drier-behaved than the Torridonian sandstone of the northwest stacks, though the crux second pitch of the Original Route runs through the least sound band, requiring careful gear selection. Facing broadly east away from the prevailing Atlantic weather, the landward face gets morning light and dries reasonably in the constant sea wind — but Orkney's exposure means you climb between weather windows, not through them. The approach involves a two-hour walk from the pier at Rackwick, and descent is by three abseils on double sixty-metre ropes.

Region
Scotland - Islands — Orkney
Rock type
Sandstone
Aspect
east-facing
Altitude
30m
Exposure
medium
Seepage
medium