Two climbers have been hospitalised over the weekend after separate incidents.

Buttermere, scene of the first incident

A man was taken by Royal Navy helicopter to Preston Royal Infirmary after being knocked unconscious. The accident happened on Saturday afternoon on Grey Crag, on High Stile, overlooking Buttermere in the Lake District.

Members of Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team went to the man’s aid and carried him by stretcher to the waiting helicopter. He was being treated for serious head injuries sustained when a falling rock hit him.

The rescue took three hours. The climber has not been named.

On Saturday evening, the second climber had to be rescued after falling while climbing in the Llanberis Pass in north Wales. The 46-year-old man from the North-West of England fell while leading a climb. He suffered head, leg and arm injuries in the 6m (20ft) fall. Llanberis MRT went to his aid and he was airlifted to the Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor by a Sea King helicopter from RAF Valley.

Less than an hour later, South Snowdonia MRT rescued a party of walkers on Cadair Idris, one of whom had an injured ankle. The five were airlifted from the mountain by helicopter.