Carter Bar and Ridsdale

After a challenging week in the aftermath of Storm Arwen, Northumberland was hit by heavy snow fall late on Saturday afternoon. Northumbria Police requested Mountain Rescue’s assistance in dealing with a significant number of RTCs and stranded motorists.

North of Tyne Mountain Rescue Team and ourselves swiftly deployed three 4x4 response vehicles to undertake welfare checks of those stranded in remote locations and assist wherever possible to get vehicles moving again. Our Toyota Hilux was deployed from Rothbury initially to Carter Bar and south to Ridsdale whilst two Landrovers were deployed to the A68 between Corbridge and Elishaw junction.

Driving conditions were challenging particularly the road over Billsmoor to Elsdon and the A68 north and south of Ridsdale. With a number of vehicles stranded on the steep bank at Ridsdale, motorists were ferried up to the Gun Inn for warmth and hospitality. A big thank you to the local community for looking after everyone.

As conditions eased and Northumberland County Council’s snow plough contractors could clear the roads, a number of the motorists were escorted by our blue light vehicles, south along the A68 to Corbridge.

The last vehicle was back at base by 01.30hrs.

The incident involved 8 Team members for 8 hours. A further 12 members were on standby in case additional assistance was required.