Storm Amy: Rescuers blast lack of ‘common sense’ after assisting climber wearing shorts in ‘avoidable’ callout

Mountain rescuers said: “This was another avoidable callout that some common sense could have prevented”

A walker wearing shorts, who was rescued from a mountain in the largest national park in Wales amid 86mph wind blasts during Storm Amy, told rescuers: “The weather didn’t look that bad.”

Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation said the incident on Tryfan, a mountain in Snowdonia, was avoidable as they urged people to check forecasts before setting off.

A statement on Saturday by OVMRO said: “No sooner had Storm Amy hit than the team was called out for a solo walker stuck below the summit of Tryfan,” reports North Wales Live.

“With winds gusting to 86 mph in Capel Curig, a hill party made their way to the casualty’s location, but the weather made progress slow as they navigated steep ground on the east side of the mountain.

“Once with the casualty, they found he had set off in shorts as ‘The weather didn’t look that bad’. He was given warm clothing before a technical rope rescue system was used to lower him to safe ground before being walked off the mountain to base.

“This was another avoidable callout that some common sense could have prevented. The storm has been forecasted for days with weather warnings in place. High rainfall also made route choices difficult as mountain streams turned into rivers and caused flooding.

“Before setting off, check the forecast on apps such as @the_mwis and BBC weather, be prepared to change, or cancel your plans for a better day. The mountains will always be here.”

In Ireland, a man in his 40s tragically died during the worst of the weather brought on by Storm Amy on Friday when a red weather alert was in place in Donegal.

He was named locally as Tommy Connors and it is suspected he fell from a shed roof in a weather-related incident on Friday afternoon.

Tens of thousands of ESB customers remained without power on Saturday night after supply to nearly 200,000 customers was cut off on Friday.

While most customers will have power restored by Sunday night, the ESB said that some will have to wait until early next week, with homes in Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway and Mayo the worst affected.

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