Lakes daily weather service saved by sponsorship

Weather assessors make the daily trip even on Christmas Day and New Year's Day

A service that tells fellwalkers and climbers about the conditions on top of England's highest mountains has been saved from closure.

The service, provided by Lake District National Park, was under threat due to financial cuts but the authority said it would start again in December.

It said new sponsorship and good house-keeping would fund the service.

Two rangers take turns climbing Helvellyn to measure wind speed and temperature.

The rangers, Jon Bennett, from Ambleside, and Jason Taylor, from Penrith, also assess snow and ice conditions when climbing the 950m peak on a daily basis between 3 December through to Easter.

Chris Tomlin, park management team leader, said: "Jon and Jason are our 'eyes and ears' on the mountains.

"We know that thousands of our visitors and local residents will now be able to enjoy their winter mountain experiences safe in the knowledge that the vital information the fell top assessors collect helps provide a much fuller and more complete picture of what's happening up on the high Lake District mountains."