Man rescued from Ben Nevis 'route of certain death' in storm

The rescue was made in atrocious weather conditions

A hillwalker was rescued from Britain's highest mountain amid Storm Abigail's high winds and heavy rain.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team said the man was attempting Observatory Gully on Ben Nevis when he got into trouble on Thursday.

The rescuers described the scale of difficulty of the route he was attempting as "certain death" and the weather conditions as "atrocious".

The hillwalker was found high on a snow slope with chest injuries.

The man was first taken to the shelter of the CIC Hut before he was helped off the mountain.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team said the difficult rescue ended with a "good outcome"

In a message to its Facebook followers, Fort William-based Lochaber MRT said: "Troops, have just returned from the eye of hurricane Abigail‬ rescuing a hillwalker attempting ‪Ben Nevis‬ via Observatory Gully.

"On the scale of difficulty this route is certain death.

"The casualty was found high on a snow slope with chest injuries and lowered down to the ‪‎CIC‬ Hut. A very difficult rescue in atrocious weather with a very good outcome."

The team also added that it was increasingly having to cope with a lack of funds and shortages of decent equipment.

Lochaber MRT has also this year had a higher than usual number of call-outs.

In August, it recorded its 100th call-out. Usually over 12 months the team would expect to be deployed on 70 to 100 occasions.