Ten Tors 2014 begins this evening and the Met Office, as part of its Public Weather Service will be providing specific forecasts for the event throughout the course of the weekend to organisers as well as to members of the public through the events pages on the website.

Here Ronnie Jones, from the South West Army Press Office explains a bit more about the event:

The Army, which runs the Ten Tors challenge, relies heavily on The Met Office for its dedicated weather forecasts which are specifically created for the event. Ten Tors is called a challenge for a reason and the weather often plays a leading role in making it so tough for the teams of teenagers trekking 35, 45 or 55 miles over some of the highest peaks in southern England, and navigating by themselves across the emptiness of one of the last true wildernesses in Britain.

This year the weather is already playing a big part in Ten Tors, and the challenge hasn’t even begun! Unfortunately several days of rain have made the usual car park on the site at Okehampton Camp unusable.

Brigadier Piers Hankinson, Director of the Ten Tors explains why:

“I have conducted a further assessment of the condition of the car parks. Unfortunately the state of the ground has deteriorated severely as a result of the poor weather conditions today.

“While I am still content that I will be able to get all team vehicles into the car park, the condition of the ground has made it impossible for us to accept spectators’ cars on Saturday. Only team vehicles will be admitted into Okehampton Camp.

“I have arranged for a Park and Ride system to be operated from Okehampton College but be aware that the parking is very limited at 200 cars. Please consider the lack of available parking when planning your journeys and share vehicles where possible.”

The weather is set to play a further part as we head into the weekend, with the Met Office warning of gale force winds for parts of South West England and forecasting heavy showers throughout Saturday.

For up-to-date weather forecasts over the course of the event you can visit the Met Office’s Ten Tors events page and more information on the event itself can be found on the official Ten Tors website.