Chalamain Gap
Avalanche roared through Chalamain Gap area of the Cairngorms (Wiki Commons)

Two climbers are missing in an avalanche in the Cairngorm mountains in Scotland.

Emergency services were called out to reports of an avalanche at lunchtime. Police confirmed that several walkers and climbers were caught in the avalanche in the Chalamain Gap area and were initially hunting three missing people.

Police search teams scouring the scene with the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, the RAF and sniffer dogs found one of them - a man - who was airlifted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

"Police can confirm a number of people were caught up in the avalanche," a spokesperson said.

The avalanche follows a series of accidents and deaths in the Cairngorms since Christmas.

On Tuesday, a chairlift derailed at the Lecht ski centre in Corgarff leaving six people injured and many more stranded.

Middle of nowhere

A day earlier, one man died when a group of six hikers became stranded on Jacob's Ladder.

The group, believed to be from Leeds University, failed to return from their mountain walk. The five survivors were rescued from freezing conditions in what a police spokesman called "the middle of nowhere". They were taken to hospital.

Graham Connell, 31, was named as the dead man.

In January, four people were killed in an avalanche on Glencoe mountain. The victims, all under the age of 30, died after falling 1,000ft down the mountain and being buried in 6ft of snow.

The victims were Una Finnegan, 25, Tom Chesters, 28, Christopher Bell, 24 and Rachel Majumdar, 29.

The survivor, who has not been named, said: "Five of my friends and I were descending a mountain in an area known as Church Door Buttress when the party was swept away by a snow avalanche.

"All in the group loved the mountains and were experienced winter walkers."