In pictures: Scotland's avalanche season

A four-legged member of SAIS Southern Cairngorms' team on patrol.

It is almost a month since the start of Scotland's latest avalanche season, and teams of forecasters have been battered by wind and rain in their hunt for the potentially fatal hazard.

Six mountain areas - Lochaber, Glen Coe, Creag Meagaidh, Torridon and Northern and Southern Cairngorms - are monitored for the risk from between mid-December to mid-April.

The Scottish Avalanche Information Service's (SAIS) forecasts are used by hillwalkers, climbers and snowsports enthusiasts to plan their visits to the hills.

Its teams of forecasters have encountered a mixed bag of weather conditions this season so far.

December was mild, wet and windy but in more recent days snow has been falling heavily over the summits.

Summits in Lochaber are among those monitored for avalanche activity.

Lochaber's 120m (394ft) Steall Falls in full flow. The waterfall was used as a backdrop in the 2005 film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Eleven avalanches have been recorded so far.

There were 171 last season, most of them occurring naturally.

But 17 were triggered by human activity such as walking or skiing and a total of 34 people were caught up in the slides, according to SAIS's 2023-24 annual report.

Snow dusted crags and gullies of the Post Face of Coire Ardair on the Creag Meagaidh team's patch.

SAIS said 13 people were carried a significant distances by avalanches.

Fortunately, there were no fatalities.

In its report, SAIS said: "A number of avalanche occurrences with human involvement were often small releases, but others were more significant and resulted in people being carried down by the avalanche, some with very lucky escapes."

Low cloud along the snowline on Carn Dearg.

A winter wonderland-like scene in the Northern Cairngorms.

Mountains as far as the eye can see in a photo taken by SAIS Torridon.