A motorcyclist was left fighting for his life after being thrown from his bike and down an embankment in a horror collision on the shores of Loch Ness.
Another biker was injured in a separate accident in a day of carnage on one of the north’s busiest roads and most popular tourist routes.
The first accident happened on the A82 Inverness to Fort William road around three miles south of Drumnadrochit.
The motorcyclist is understood to have been traveling north as part of a group of four when he was involved in a collision with a silver Citroen Picasso just before 11.10am.
Both vehicles came to rest at the side of the main road.
However, the motorcylist was thrown from his bike and ended up at the bottom of a steep embankment.
Emergency services rushed to the scene where firefighters were called into action to reach the man.
A spokeswoman for the fire and rescue service said: “The incident involving a motorcycle and a car was reported to operations control at 11.09am and three Inverness crews, including the heavy rescue vehicle, were joined by a crew from Drumnadrochit.
“When firefighters arrived they discovered the motorcyclist had ended up down an embankment.
“Using ropes and utilising their working at height skills the crews reached the casualty and extricated them to safety.”
She added: “Crews made the scene safe and assisted with the clean-up operation.
“The last appliance left the scene at 1.37pm.”
The man was passed into the care of the Stornoway Coastguard helicopter to be transferred to Raigmore Hospital.
A police spokeswoman said his injuries are “believed to be life-threatening.”
The driver of the Citroen was uninjured.
The road remained closed until around 5pm as specialist road policing officers carried out a thorough investigation at the scene.
Meanwhile a second motorcyclist was involved in a separate accident a few miles to the south on the A82 near Invermoriston.
The man is understood to have suffered chest injuries. He was described by police as being “conscious and breathing” at the scene and was airlifted by air ambulance to Raigmore.
Elsewhere a cyclist suffered head injuries after being involved in a collision with a car on Drummond Road in Inverness.
The accident happened at around 2.40pm. The male cyclist was again described as being “conscious and breathing” by police.
