diff --git a/pvnet/models/multimodal/multimodal_base.py b/pvnet/models/multimodal/multimodal_base.py
index dbab8556..ed579b43 100644
--- a/pvnet/models/multimodal/multimodal_base.py
+++ b/pvnet/models/multimodal/multimodal_base.py
@@ -9,26 +9,29 @@ class MultimodalBaseModel(BaseModel):
     """Base model class for multimodal model and unimodal teacher"""
 
     def _adapt_batch(self, batch):
-        """Slice batches into appropriate shapes for model
+        """Slice batches into appropriate shapes for model.
 
+        Returns a new batch dictionary with adapted data, leaving the original batch unchanged.
         We make some specific assumptions about the original batch and the derived sliced batch:
         - We are only limiting the future projections. I.e. we are never shrinking the batch from
           the left hand side of the time axis, only slicing it from the right
         - We are only shrinking the spatial crop of the satellite and NWP data
 
         """
+        # Create a copy of the batch to avoid modifying the original
+        new_batch = {key: value.copy() for key, value in batch.items()}
 
-        if BatchKey.gsp in batch.keys():
+        if BatchKey.gsp in new_batch.keys():
             # Slice off the end of the GSP data
             gsp_len = self.forecast_len + self.history_len + 1
-            batch[BatchKey.gsp] = batch[BatchKey.gsp][:, :gsp_len]
-            batch[BatchKey.gsp_time_utc] = batch[BatchKey.gsp_time_utc][:, :gsp_len]
+            new_batch[BatchKey.gsp] = new_batch[BatchKey.gsp][:, :gsp_len]
+            new_batch[BatchKey.gsp_time_utc] = new_batch[BatchKey.gsp_time_utc][:, :gsp_len]
 
         if self.include_sat:
             # Slice off the end of the satellite data and spatially crop
             # Shape: batch_size, seq_length, channel, height, width
-            batch[BatchKey.satellite_actual] = center_crop(
-                batch[BatchKey.satellite_actual][:, : self.sat_sequence_len],
+            new_batch[BatchKey.satellite_actual] = center_crop(
+                new_batch[BatchKey.satellite_actual][:, : self.sat_sequence_len],
                 output_size=self.sat_encoder.image_size_pixels,
             )
 
@@ -36,8 +39,8 @@ def _adapt_batch(self, batch):
             # Slice off the end of the NWP data and spatially crop
             for nwp_source in self.nwp_encoders_dict:
                 # shape: batch_size, seq_len, n_chans, height, width
-                batch[BatchKey.nwp][nwp_source][NWPBatchKey.nwp] = center_crop(
-                    batch[BatchKey.nwp][nwp_source][NWPBatchKey.nwp],
+                new_batch[BatchKey.nwp][nwp_source][NWPBatchKey.nwp] = center_crop(
+                    new_batch[BatchKey.nwp][nwp_source][NWPBatchKey.nwp],
                     output_size=self.nwp_encoders_dict[nwp_source].image_size_pixels,
                 )[:, : self.nwp_encoders_dict[nwp_source].sequence_length]
 
@@ -45,8 +48,8 @@ def _adapt_batch(self, batch):
             # Slice off the end of the solar coords data
             for s in ["solar_azimuth", "solar_elevation"]:
                 key = BatchKey[f"{self._target_key_name}_{s}"]
-                if key in batch.keys():
+                if key in new_batch.keys():
                     sun_len = self.forecast_len + self.history_len + 1
-                    batch[key] = batch[key][:, :sun_len]
+                    new_batch[key] = new_batch[key][:, :sun_len]
 
-        return batch
+        return new_batch