'Surge' in rescues followed end of 2020 lockdown

Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) has said its teams had their "busiest ever" summer following a "surge" in callouts at the end of lockdown last year.

The number of callouts went from about 20 in June to more than 100 in July, according to SMR's annual report.

There was a spike of almost 120 in August and the number was just slightly lower than that in September.

Of the total number of 497 incidents, 289 were related to mountaineering activities such as walking or climbing.

The remaining 208 were non-mountaineering incidents, which included missing persons searches.

Teams closest to large urban areas were "particularly busy", the report said.

SMR said the summer's record number of callouts had followed an "all time low" number in late spring, which was during lockdown.

In its report, the organisation said 2020 was an "unusual year in many respects" and teams had faced the challenge of adapting how they worked to protect team members and casualties from the potential risk of Covid-19.

Teams were broken down into small "bubbles" and there were the tough tasks of sanitising rescue transport and equipment, and having to wear face coverings on strenuous treks up hills to casualties.

SMR has 25 members, including Aberdeen, Borders, Braemar, Lomond, Torridon and Tweed Valley rescue teams.