Scotland weather: 'Red flag' avalanche warning as mountain rescue team shares alarming photo of crack in Pentland Hills

An “extreme avalanche” warning has been issued for hills in southern Scotland.

Mountain rescue team issue 'extreme' avalanche warning for hills in southern Scotland. This picture was taken following an avalanche at Turnhouse Hill in January this year picture: supplied

The Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue team said with temperatures warming and rainfall expected in the next few days, heavy snow is “prone to release."

Areas issued with the warning include the Pentland Hills, Border Hills, Moorfoots and Lammermuirs.

The group shared an alarming photo on their Facebook page showing Spittal Hill in the Pentlands with a crack shooting right up to the top of the north-west facing slope.

"This is what we call a ‘red flag’,” a spokesman for the team said, “and gives us an indication that the snow pack is getting heavier and maybe prone to release, potentially to full depth, as we saw a few weeks ago.

“This crack is a few cm across and around 30m long.

"With a snow pack potentially over a meter deep in places we can see that a full depth avalanche of this nature would be huge.

“With the forecast predicting rising temperature and rain, it’s very possible we will see avalanches over the coming days. If you are out on the hills in the next few days please be careful.”

The mountain rescue team advises those wishing to head out into the hills in this weather should read the Be Avalanche Aware guidance produced by the Scottish Avalanche Information Service here.

More information about avalanche recordings, awareness and forecasts can be found on the Scottish Avalanche Information Service website.

The warning comes as winter sport fans have been out in the Pentland Hills enjoying the wintry conditions over the last few weeks.

On Friday, photographer Will Nangle captured stunning images of former professional snowboarder Scott McMorris doing impressive jumps off the slopes

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