'Beast from the East' pushed up rescue team call-outs

Image caption, Bad weather last February disrupted travel in many parts of Scotland

A winter storm dubbed the "Beast from the East" played a part in a 39% increase in call-outs for Scottish mountain rescue teams last year.

The snow last February caused widespread travel disruption in Scotland.

Scottish Mountain Rescue, which represents 24 of Scotland's 28 teams, said its members were called out to help with non-mountaineering incidents.

The teams went to the aid of communities and local authorities.

The bad weather affected parts of central and eastern Scotland, including in and around Glasgow.

In total, Scottish Mountain Rescue (SMR) teams dealt with 588 incidents in 2018.

It said this was an increase of 39% from 423 in 2017.

In its annual report on call-outs, SMR said the increase was "mostly driven by" an increase in non-mountaineering incidents including during the "Beast from the East".