Ice warnings amid rise in mountain rescues
At a glance
Mountaineering groups have warned of hard and icy ice skating rink-like conditions on snow high in Scotland's mountains.
The conditions have been a cause of accidents in recent weeks.
Police Scotland said mountain rescue teams had seen a more than 40% rise in callouts than the previous average.
Hillwalkers have been urged to take with them the appropriate equipment, such as ice axes and crampons.
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Walkers have been warned of potentially dangerous snow conditions in Scotland's mountains.
Police Scotland said rescue teams had seen a more than 40% rise in callouts in recent weeks than the previous average.
Teams have been deployed to help people injured in slips, trips or falls.
A cause of some of the accidents has been the widespread hard and icy snow cover high in the mountains.
Mountaineering groups said warm day temperatures followed by frosts had created a "deadly skating rink" surface to many snow fields and patches.
They said without the proper equipment such as crampons and ice axes people were putting themselves at risk crossing the snow.
Mountaineering Scotland, Scottish Mountain Rescue and sportscotland National Outdoor Training Centre Glenmore Lodge are among organisations urging hillwalkers to take extra care.
Police Scotland mountain rescue coordinator Insp Matt Smith said there had been a significant rise in incidents in recent weeks.
He added: "Dozens of persons have been assisted and a number of tragic deaths have resulted."
Ben Gibson, mountain safety adviser for Mountaineering Scotland, said: “You can go from soft snow to hard ice in just a step in the mountains just now and, without crampons, keeping your feet can be impossible."