‘I don’t know whether it’s sustainable’: climate crisis and TikTok change face of mountain rescue work in Lake District

There may be less snow but the number of callouts has surged, and often involve ill-prepared novice hikers

When Neil Barrow first volunteered with mountain rescue 40 years ago, for weeks on end the Lake District fells would be capped with snow.

Winters with the Patterdale mountain rescue team, of which he is now deputy leader, would involve big and complicated rescues, during which he would bring down the experienced hikers who had become injured or ill tackling the national park's famous peaks in snow and ice.