Don D Cake,
RW05 - thanks guys, thats really interesting to hear about the local conditions. I was really miffed that I hadn't anticipated this as I had spent a reasonable amount of time looking at the wx on the day.
But I will definitely give it another go this season when able as I think it must look really beautiful from the air on a good day
I'll be more prepared for this type of situation to arise, and so will be more "emotionally" prepared to divert around the localised wx and then to continue enroute.
Cheers guys,