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Rule Golden Hour

Nant Gwynant - Golden Hour - Snowdonia (Eryri)

Beddgelert, Wales, United Kingdom

That magical warm light just after sunrise or before sunset

Currently

Real-time conditions
Low Cloud Cover100%
Mid Cloud Cover100%
High Cloud Cover99%
Sun Elevation-10.8° (Nautical twilight)

Upcoming Opportunities

When all conditions match, PhotoWeather marks an opportunity window.

Times shown in Europe/London
golden-hour weather icon
Next opportunity
Exceptional Golden Hour (calm) at Sunset
Nant Gwynant
Fri, Jun 12 · 22:00–22:13 · 1h window
Medium confidence
45%
🌇Golden Hour Potential86.4%
Low Cloud Cover: 44%
Mid Cloud Cover: 5%
High Cloud Cover: 3%
Sun Elevation: -2.6° (Civil twilight)
golden-hour weather icon
Exceptional Golden Hour (calm) at Sunset
Nant Gwynant
Sat, Jun 13 · 22:00–22:14
🌇Golden Hour Potential:93.6%
Medium

What this forecast looks for

Plain-language explanation from the rule

This forecast tracks optimal sunrise and sunset conditions when warm light transforms Snowdonia's peaks, slate landscapes, and mountain lakes into scenes of extraordinary beauty. We combine solar angle, cloud cover, and visibility to predict when golden-hour photography delivers exceptional results.

Snowdonia's dramatic topography creates exceptional golden-hour photography—steep mountain faces catch warm sidelight that emphasizes texture, deep valleys create shadow contrast, and the region's frequent cloud means colorful sunrise and sunset skies are common. The slate quarries of Llanberis take on particular character in golden light, and historic elements like Dolbadarn Castle gain photogenic warmth.

What makes Snowdonia golden-hour photography distinctive:

  • Mountain textures - Sidelighting emphasizes the rocky texture of Tryfan, Pen yr Ole Wen, and Rhinog Fawr
  • Slate heritage - Llanberis slate quarries and terraces glow with warm tones in evening light
  • Valley warmth - Nant Gwynant and Ogwen Valley bathed in golden light with shadowed depths
  • Castle silhouettes - Dolbadarn Castle tower profiled against colorful dawn and dusk skies

The best golden-hour conditions combine partial cloud cover—which adds color to skies—with clear horizons for unobstructed sun. Sunrise photography is particularly rewarding at Llyn Padarn, where the Snowdon massif catches first light and the lake reflects warming colors. Position yourself along the northern shore near the Llanberis lakeside path for classic compositions including Dolbadarn Castle. Sunset photography excels at locations with westward views—Capel Curig looks toward Snowdon's pyramid profile, while Nant Gwynant valley captures warm light flowing down from mountain passes. The Pont Pen-y-benglog bridge offers dramatic golden-hour views of Tryfan's north face catching warm sidelight. Pen yr Ole Wen ridge provides elevated sunset photography with the entire Ogwen Valley bathed in warm light below. Rhinog Fawr's remote western position delivers spectacular sunset conditions over Cardigan Bay when clear. Autumn and winter offer the advantages of lower sun angles—which create longer golden-hour periods—and positioning that works well with Snowdonia's predominantly north-south valley orientations.

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72-hour requirements breakdown

What passed or failed, hour by hour
0matching hours in the next 92 hours
AND logic: all conditions required
Meets requirement
Misses requirement
Time
Europe/London
Golden Hour
Any
Golden Hour Potential
≥ 80.0%
Precipitation Chance
≤ 5.0%
Visibility
≥ 1000.0m
Sun, Jun 7
06:0021%95%138m
07:0016%99%196m
08:0015%83%293m
09:0018%83%18777m
10:0018%83%16717m
11:0020%85%23401m
12:0020%88%16702m
13:0025%90%23095m
14:0020%93%12299m
15:0021%91%13587m
16:0021%90%20614m
17:0023%93%23209m
18:0018%96%15462m
19:0019%99%18173m
20:0043%100%21658m
21:0042%100%19687m
22:0042%100%14462m
23:0030%100%10150m
Mon, Jun 8
24:0014%100%8430m
01:0020%100%8417m
02:0014%97%220m
03:0011%94%820m
04:0037%92%5218m
05:0049%93%12418m
06:0032%94%20304m
07:0021%95%24134m
08:0026%64%19748m
09:0028%32%23427m
10:0029%0%23206m
11:0030%13%23437m
12:0035%26%24135m
13:0038%39%24134m
14:0033%58%24135m
15:0034%77%24135m
16:0033%96%24135m
17:0032%98%21788m
18:0028%99%23318m
19:0027%100%21196m
20:0045%100%15969m
21:0044%100%21102m
22:0046%100%21995m
23:0030%100%13336m
Tue, Jun 9
24:0027%100%22802m
01:0022%100%22741m
02:0023%99%17719m
03:0029%99%14689m
04:0090%98%23181m
05:0057%99%14049m
06:0032%99%23466m
07:0023%100%12010m
08:0018%99%11874m
09:0016%98%13435m
10:0015%98%15964m
11:0016%98%24135m
12:0018%99%23636m
13:0025%100%22163m
14:0033%99%23642m
15:0029%98%23496m
16:0029%98%23281m
17:0037%98%23126m
18:0036%99%23189m
19:0035%99%23224m
20:0063%98%17160m
21:0067%96%22981m
22:0065%95%23988m
23:0042%96%24134m
Wed, Jun 10
24:0023%98%24106m
01:0021%100%24134m
02:0029%99%23991m
03:0035%99%24134m
04:0064%99%23864m
05:0051%99%23796m
06:0049%99%24135m
07:0027%100%23137m
08:0021%94%15764m
09:0016%88%14868m
10:0020%82%15383m
11:0025%85%12928m
12:0018%89%11604m
13:0026%93%23399m
14:0016%80%23644m
15:0017%68%23890m
16:0017%56%24135m
17:0015%65%24135m
18:0010%74%24135m
19:007.8%83%24135m
20:0046%73%17236m
21:0041%64%10337m
22:0030%54%3438m
23:0015%59%2364m
Thu, Jun 11
24:004.4%64%1290m
01:003.2%69%216m
How to read: colored cells show whether each predicate requirement is met; highlighted rows mean the full rule matched (an opportunity).

What does Golden Hour Potential mean?

Inputs that drive the score

This derived score summarizes multiple raw weather signals. The table below shows the supporting inputs hour by hour, so you can see what's pushing the score up or down.

Time
Europe/London
Golden Hour
High Clouds
%
Low Clouds
%
Mid-Level Clouds
%
Relative Humidity
%
Total Cloud Coverage
%
Wind Speed
m/s
Mon, Jun 8 Sunrise 04:52 Sunset 21:38
03:00
- 99% 100% 100% 98% 100% 3.8m/s
04:00
- 100% 100% 100% 98% 100% 2.3m/s
05:00
- 0% 56% 91% 97% 91% 2.4m/s
06:00
- 0% 100% 51% 98% 100% 2.5m/s
07:00
- 0% 14% 0% 96% 14% 1.8m/s
08:00
- 0% 42% 0% 87% 42% 2.1m/s
09:00
- 0% 50% 0% 83% 50% 2.6m/s
10:00
- 0% 56% 0% 82% 56% 3.6m/s
11:00
- 0% 31% 0% 79% 31% 4.3m/s
12:00
- 0% 3% 0% 71% 3% 4.4m/s
13:00
- 4% 5% 0% 67% 5% 5m/s
14:00
- 5% 5% 0% 66% 5% 5.6m/s
15:00
- 0% 5% 0% 66% 5% 5.5m/s
16:00
- 0% 35% 2% 70% 35% 6.4m/s
17:00
- 4% 60% 0% 78% 60% 6.2m/s
18:00
- 5% 45% 5% 81% 45% 5.9m/s
19:00
- 30% 21% 26% 85% 31% 5.3m/s
20:00
- 98% 34% 100% 90% 100% 4.9m/s
21:00
- 86% 48% 100% 92% 100% 4.8m/s
22:00
- 1% 99% 70% 94% 99% 4.1m/s
23:00
- 1% 100% 70% 93% 100% 4.4m/s
Tue, Jun 9 Sunrise 04:52 Sunset 21:38
24:00
- 5% 64% 8% 91% 64% 4.1m/s
01:00
- 5% 94% 30% 92% 94% 3m/s
02:00
- 5% 100% 96% 93% 100% 3.2m/s
03:00
- 0% 25% 1% 94% 25% 3.9m/s
04:00
- 2% 17% 5% 97% 17% 3.1m/s
05:00
- 1% 82% 3% 98% 82% 3.2m/s
06:00
- 0% 86% 0% 94% 86% 4.6m/s
07:00
- 0% 72% 4% 93% 72% 5m/s
08:00
- 0% 86% 5% 93% 86% 6.8m/s
09:00
- 0% 96% 4% 91% 96% 7.8m/s
10:00
- 0% 100% 0% 89% 100% 8m/s
11:00
- 0% 100% 2% 89% 100% 7m/s
12:00
- 0% 61% 5% 90% 61% 7.2m/s
13:00
- 0% 48% 6% 80% 48% 8.9m/s
14:00
- 0% 27% 5% 73% 27% 8.6m/s
15:00
- 0% 48% 5% 72% 48% 8.3m/s
16:00
- 0% 76% 0% 75% 76% 7.6m/s
17:00
- 2% 11% 2% 77% 11% 6.4m/s
18:00
- 5% 6% 5% 76% 6% 6m/s
19:00
- 5% 5% 9% 82% 9% 5.4m/s
20:00
- 5% 5% 92% 86% 92% 4.6m/s
21:00
- 5% 57% 39% 88% 60% 3m/s
22:00
- 5% 70% 35% 90% 70% 1.8m/s
23:00
- 10% 76% 26% 89% 76% 1.6m/s
Wed, Jun 10 Sunrise 04:52 Sunset 21:39
24:00
- 19% 100% 52% 90% 100% 1.9m/s
01:00
- 5% 58% 96% 91% 96% 1.1m/s
02:00
- 5% 12% 92% 93% 92% 2.1m/s
03:00
- 5% 27% 7% 96% 27% 2.2m/s
04:00
- 9% 66% 18% 97% 66% 2m/s
05:00
- 1% 98% 45% 97% 98% 1.8m/s
06:00
- 0% 32% 20% 97% 32% 2.5m/s
07:00
- 0% 13% 95% 92% 95% 3.2m/s
08:00
- 0% 57% 100% 89% 100% 4.3m/s
09:00
- 0% 32% 100% 88% 100% 4.8m/s
10:00
- 0% 31% 37% 86% 37% 5.5m/s
11:00
- 0% 41% 7% 86% 41% 6m/s
12:00
- 0% 74% 5% 87% 74% 6.7m/s
13:00
- 0% 37% 5% 84% 37% 7.3m/s
14:00
- 3% 26% 5% 86% 28% 5.6m/s
15:00
- 6% 16% 5% 88% 18% 3.9m/s
16:00
- 9% 5% 5% 90% 9% 2.2m/s
17:00
- 39% 5% 37% 92% 39% 2.2m/s
18:00
- 70% 5% 68% 94% 70% 2.3m/s
19:00
- 100% 5% 100% 96% 100% 2.3m/s
20:00
- 100% 26% 100% 97% 100% 2.6m/s
21:00
- 100% 47% 100% 98% 100% 3m/s
22:00
- 100% 68% 100% 99% 100% 3.4m/s
23:00
- 100% 78% 100% 99% 100% 3.5m/s
Thu, Jun 11 Sunrise 04:51 Sunset 21:40
24:00
- 100% 89% 100% 99% 100% 3.6m/s
01:00
- 100% 100% 100% 99% 100% 3.7m/s
02:00
- 100% 100% 100% 99% 100% 3.7m/s
How to read: these inputs help produce the derived score; they are not requirements by themselves.

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