Striding Edge in winter, with Helvellyn in the distance. Accurate condition reports are provided by the felltop assessors

Hillwalkers and climbers in the Lake District will need to key a new number into their mobiles from the beginning of next month.

The Weatherline, run by the national park authority, will change its phone number from November. The service includes felltop condition reports from the authority’s assessors who climb to the top of Helvellyn each day to get accurate snow, ice and other weather condition reports during the winter months.

The service has been running for 34 years and is also now available on the internet. You can access the Lake District Weatherline via grough’s links tab at the top of this page.

The new phone number, 0844 846 2444, is slightly cheaper than the existing 0870 number and will cost 5p a minute from landlines and 12p from mobile phones. However, the slight drawback is that 0844 numbers don’t come under BT’s inclusive calls schemes.

Information on the Lake District National Park Authority’s Weatherline is updated twice a day using Met Office forecasts and felltop assessors’ information in winter. The two men work alternate weeks, walking to the summit of the 950m (3,117ft) Helvellyn, England’s third highest peak, from December to Easter.

During the last two years, extensive snow and ice build up on the Lakeland fells has seen the re-emergence of potential avalanche conditions.

LDNP’s countryside team leader, Chris Tomlin, said although Weatherline was invaluable to the area’s walkers, climbers and runners, it was also widely used by farmers, residents and especially those working outdoors.

He said: “We know how important Weatherline is and how widely it is used. Our information service records the weather twice daily and it is updated automatically by the Met Office on our website.”

Mr Tomlin said with the onset of winter, it was important that Weatherline was as efficient as possible.

“We can’t advise strongly enough that it’s well worth the few minutes it takes to get reliable forecasts and felltop information. It’s great that vast numbers get out and about in the Lake District and that Weatherline is there to help protect them.”

Mountain rescue teams have also recently stressed the importance of getting an accurate weather forecast before setting out on to the hills and mountains of Britain.

The independent Mountain Weather Information Service forecasts, Met Office mountain reports and the Lake District Weatherline can all be accessed via our links page, as can the sportscotland Avalanche Information Service which starts in December.