Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue: 'Be prepared for the cold'

Freezing conditions could impact the roads for emergency services to rescue people

Author: Karen LiuPublished 19th Jan 2023

'Be prepared for the cold weather' is the message from Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team.

It is as people may need to call for help during freezing conditions and if they are taking on climbs.

Incident controller, Ian Hugill, said: "I think the biggest issue is the conditions and the road conditions. Clearly if the road is closed then we're going to have trouble getting to any incident. We do have four-wheel drive vehicles but quite often just the volume of traffic that's stuck on the roads means we can't get past them.

"Be prepared; take plenty of warm clothing, take food, warm drinks and don't rely on your mobile phone. Batteries tend to go flat an awful lot quicker in cold weather so don't rely on your phone to navigate, use a map and a compass. Have a torch, a head torch and spare batteries. Be prepared to be out there for quite a while.

"We strongly recommend that people carry what's called a 'group shelter' or a 'storm shelter' which is a nylon sheet, think of a tent but without any poles, which you can quickly put over the top of you, sit underneath it on your rucksack and that keeps the worst of the conditions away from you and keeps you a bit warmer than you would be if you were sat exposed up on the hills."

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