Two female climbers were rescued after getting into trouble on a in a 60mph Cairngorm blizzard – that was even too wild for a Coastguard helicopter to reach them.
However, the north has escaped the worst of the bad weather, although a weather warning has been in place into this morning for rain in the far north.
Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team were called out on Wednesday night after the pair – both students from Liverpool University – hit problems after scaling Coire an t-Sneachda in the range’s northern corries.
Thirty members of the mountain rescue team went to the women’s aid after they phoned for help at 6pm.
Team leader Willie Anderson said the couple had encountered vicious winds on the plateau resulting in abseiling back down their route and being unable to extract themselves.
He said: “The weather was too wild and cloud too low for the rescue helicopter from Inverness to assist.
“We were being blown off our feet at times – it was gusting 60mph and we had to walk 2kms to reach them.
“It was blowing a blizzard but we found the women, who were in their early 20s, huddled in an emergency shelter, which they had with them.
He added: “That helped them a lot. They were just exhausted and had nothing left in their tank.
“They did everything right, were well equipped and deserve no criticism. They were glad when we found them.”
The pair were able to walk off the hill and the call out ended around midnight.
Elsewhere the Rest and Be Thankful has fully reopened after a controlled explosion to make safe a 150 tonne boulder above the A83 Tarbet to Campbelltown road.
The huge rock was destroyed on Wednesday afternoon and the road reopened yesterday after it was checked in daylight.
Eddie Ross, Bear Scotland’s north-west representative said: “The A83 has now reopened after teams worked hard in challenging conditions to stabilise the rock above the A83.
“We thank motorists for their patience whilst we did everything to make the situation safe and get the road opened as quickly as possible.”
The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for rain in northern reaches of Caithness.
It is valid until 9am this morning.