Highland hillwalker airlifted to hospital after group is ‘flattened’ by wind

A woman hillwalker was rescued from a Highland mountain after being “flattened” by strong winds.

The hillwalker fell on 2,651ft-high Quinag in Assynt on Saturday.

The 63-year-old visitor was halfway down the mountain with a group of companions when a strong gust of wind knocked her and the entire group over.

She suffered suspected hip and lower leg injuries and required a stretcher carry off by members of Assynt Mountain Rescue Team.

Team leader Tim Hamlet said: “It was a very strong gust that flattened the entire group.

“At the time we had members that were scattered throughout Assynt on two long-running missing persons searches when we got the call. So it took a little while to get enough team members together to carry out this rescue.

“We scrambled five team members to help with carry off. The conditions were so difficult the helicopter could not uplift the casualty from where she was. So we managed to stretcher her to a point where she could be.”

A coastguard search and rescue helicopter from Stornoway took the woman to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. Her condition is unknown.