Strangely, workers building the new Snowdon mountain-top café have encountered high winds which have put the construction schedule back by two weeks.

An impression of how Hafod Eryri will look

We know you’ll find it hard to believe, but weather on the 1,067m summit of Wales’s highest peak has been a bit harsher than at valley level. This prevented installation of the roof, but the main frame of the building is now in place.

The replacement for the old Snowdon summit café, described by the Prince of Wales as the country’s ‘highest slum’ will cost £8.35m and is due to be completed by this time next year.

During a visit to the site with members of the Snowdonia National Park Authority, chief executive, Aneurin Phillips said: “From the onset, we knew that the contractors faced a difficult task in undertaking such a project as this and we were obviously concerned with the extreme weather on the summit.

“Heavy rain, strong winds and exposure during the last few weeks has unavoidably affected some of the building work. However what’s important today is that the building work on the main building is on time and we are already looking forward to the official opening of Hafod Eryri in July 2008.”

The steel frame of the building weighs 120 tonnes and was assembled in a Rhyl factory. Hafod is Welsh for a summer upland farmstead and Eryri is Snowdonia.