Our half-term break turned into terrifying glacier ordeal

A MOTHER today told how her young son had sobbed "Mummy, we're going to die" as the pair were stranded in whiteout conditions on an Icelandic glacier.

Beata Scott and Jeremy, 11, had to survive for nine hours as temperatures plunged to -10c after becoming separated from a snowmobile tour.

Today they are back at home in Marchmont, recovering from their ordeal, which saw Mrs Scott create a makeshift shelter to protect them for the harsh conditions.

She said: "I must have done a good job, because we're still here. I have frostbite in my right hand but thankfully Jeremy didn't need to go to hospital.

"We're now concerned about the emotional impact it might have on him."

She added: "I'm on a rollercoaster, my moods are changing all the time. It's been very upsetting."

Mrs Scott and her husband Mike, 47, of Strathern Road, were on a half-term break in Iceland with sons Jonathan, 14, and Jeremy when the drama unfolded during what was supposed to be the highlight of their trip – a brief snowmobile tour to the Langjkull glacier on Sunday.

The tour went ahead in spite of snowstorm warnings, with Mrs Scott and Jeremy riding on one snowmobile, and her husband and other son on another.

However visibility on the glacier, Iceland's second largest at 4460ft, was hampered by whiteout conditions. Mrs Scott and Jeremy became separated from the group of around 20 other tourists after missing a turn.

As the weather closed in, their snowmobile engine died and Mrs Scott's desperate efforts to restart it failed.

Afterwards she told how she had ruled out attempting to walk, and instead tried to raise her frightened son's spirits by suggesting they build a snowhouse and playing word games.

At one point she snapped the windshield off the snowmobile and attempted to use it to shovel snow, only for the wind to blow it from her hands.

Unknown to the pair, her husband and other son, Jonathan, had experienced problems with their snowmobile which had also broken down during the tour.

They only realised Mrs Scott and Jeremy were missing when they reached the end of their glacier tour and raised the alarm. They spent ten hours in a Jeep on the glacier waiting for news.

A team of around 300 people set off to look for the pair, eventually finding Mrs Scott lying protectively across her son in a bid to shelter him and keep warm.

At a news conference afterwards, Mr Scott criticised Icelandic tour company Snowmobile.is for proceeding with the tour in difficult weather conditions.

No-one from the company was available to comment today and an official investigation into the incident is being carried out by Icelandic authorities.