Jason Taylor, one of the two felltop assessors

Jason Taylor, one of the two felltop assessors

The two men who make the daily journey to the top of England’s third highest mountain have hung up their crampons.

The Lake District Weatherline’s felltop assessors have ended their reports for this winter.

Jason Taylor and Jon Bennett take it in turn to undertake shifts climbing Helvellyn every day during the winter to provide real-life observations of the state of the Lake District’s tops, including weather, wind, snow and ice and conditions underfoot.

As the exceptionally long-lived winter recedes and the Lake District fells return to more typical conditions, the Weatherline assessors filed their final reports this week.

Jon Bennett

Jon Bennett

The service, run by the Lake District National Park Authority, will return in December.

The freezing level has now risen above the felltop height, but the area’s hills were today hit by storm force winds with gusts of more than 70mph making progress difficult on ridges and exposed tops.

The next few days should see a slight freeze return to the highest levels, above 800m to 900m.

Lake District weather forecasts will continue on the Weatherline website and specialised forecasts are also available from the Mountain Weather Information Service and the Met Office.

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