Couple and dog missing in freezing Cairngorms found safe

A couple and their dog missing overnight amid freezing conditions in a mountain range have been found safe and well by rescue teams.

From the hills above Glenshee looking towards Breamar and Balmoral, and the Cairngorms. Picture: Donald MacLeod/TSPL

The man and woman, aged 60 and 57, and their pet had to spend the night in a bivvy bag in the Cairngorms after bad weather closed in on them.

They were reported missing on Sunday night when they failed to return from a New Year’s Day walk with their black collie in the Glenmore area.

Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team started searching on Sunday night but could find no trace of the couple, thought to be from England.

The search resumed on Monday morning with Police Scotland, an RAF mountain rescue team and the coastguard helicopter involved.

Cairngorm team leader Willie Anderson believes the bivvy bag “saved their lives”.

He said: “They misjudged how long their walk would take them yesterday and then the cloud closed in and it started snowing.

“They were a bit disorientated but at least they had a bivvy bag to shelter them. That probably saved their lives.”

Mr Anderson said rescuers walked the couple to a track vehicle which took them to the funicular railway.

They are to be checked over by medics but Mr Anderson said they were safe and well.