North Yorkshire Mountain rescue safety warning ahead of Bank Holiday
Good Friday is traditionally the busiest day for hiking, walking and cycling
North Yorkshire's mountain rescue team is warning people to prepare properly if they are going out for hike this bank holiday.
Good Friday is traditionally the busiest day of the year for walking, hiking and cycling.
Roger Hartley is from Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain rescue team and has this advice: "Don't overstretch yourself, the hills, the walks will be there tomorrow. Secondly, look at the weather, get as many weather forecasts as you can to try and understand what they are trying to get you."
"Have the right gear, don't go walking around in flip flops or silly shoes, or jeans, things that aren't designed to keep you warm or dry."
"You need to be taking some water or something to drink with you, not alcohol, that's not helpful but also some sugary food, something with carbs in to give you energy."
"Try and have everything you need, a raincoat or something to stop the wind blowing through you. It might be lovely where you are but if you are going to walk up a hill, it's going to be a different climate at the top of the hill."
His comments as Mountain Rescue Teams across the UK say they are seeing an increase in call outs. The data reveals that the huge rise in rescues is being driven by the craze for people to take Instagram-able selfies at some of the UK’s most remote beauty spots.
And whereas in pre-pandemic times the most rescued age group was 50-54, today it is the Gen Z generation of under 24s, with many of them setting off to take their selfies with inappropriate clothing, inadequate provisions and relying on mobile phone apps that lack the accurate detail required to navigate safely in remote areas.
The new data shows there’s been a 24% rise in incidents over the past five years and in 2024 there wasn’t a single day when Mountain Rescue teams in England and Wales – all manned by volunteers – weren’t called out somewhere in the UK.