diff --git a/ultralytics/__init__.py b/ultralytics/__init__.py
index a03cb559..5d7906d0 100644
--- a/ultralytics/__init__.py
+++ b/ultralytics/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Ultralytics YOLO 🚀, AGPL-3.0 license
 
-__version__ = "8.2.80"
+__version__ = "8.2.81"
 
 import os
 
diff --git a/ultralytics/hub/session.py b/ultralytics/hub/session.py
index 1423f5f4..9ce9a299 100644
--- a/ultralytics/hub/session.py
+++ b/ultralytics/hub/session.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Ultralytics YOLO 🚀, AGPL-3.0 license
 
+import shutil
 import threading
 import time
 from http import HTTPStatus
@@ -344,23 +345,34 @@ class HUBTrainingSession:
             map (float): Mean average precision of the model.
             final (bool): Indicates if the model is the final model after training.
         """
-        if Path(weights).is_file():
-            progress_total = Path(weights).stat().st_size if final else None  # Only show progress if final
-            self.request_queue(
-                self.model.upload_model,
-                epoch=epoch,
-                weights=weights,
-                is_best=is_best,
-                map=map,
-                final=final,
-                retry=10,
-                timeout=3600,
-                thread=not final,
-                progress_total=progress_total,
-                stream_response=True,
-            )
-        else:
-            LOGGER.warning(f"{PREFIX}WARNING ⚠️ Model upload issue. Missing model {weights}.")
+        weights = Path(weights)
+        if not weights.is_file():
+            last = weights.with_name("last" + weights.suffix)
+            if final and last.is_file():
+                LOGGER.warning(
+                    f"{PREFIX} ARNING ⚠️ Model 'best.pt' not found, copying 'last.pt' to 'best.pt' and uploading. "
+                    "This often happens when resuming training in transient environments like Google Colab. "
+                    "For more reliable training, consider using Ultralytics HUB Cloud. "
+                    "Learn more at https://docs.ultralytics.com/hub/cloud-training/."
+                )
+                shutil.copy(last, weights)  # copy last.pt to best.pt
+            else:
+                LOGGER.warning(f"{PREFIX} WARNING ⚠️ Model upload issue. Missing model {weights}.")
+                return
+
+        self.request_queue(
+            self.model.upload_model,
+            epoch=epoch,
+            weights=str(weights),
+            is_best=is_best,
+            map=map,
+            final=final,
+            retry=10,
+            timeout=3600,
+            thread=not final,
+            progress_total=weights.stat().st_size if final else None,  # only show progress if final
+            stream_response=True,
+        )
 
     @staticmethod
     def _show_upload_progress(content_length: int, response: requests.Response) -> None: