Mountain rescuers in the Hautes-Pyrénées, in southwestern France, say they have been overwhelmed this week by a surge of calls from hikers panicking at the sight of storms and threatening clouds, with many mistakenly triggering emergency beacons.
Teams from the Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne (PGHM), based in Pierrefitte in the Hautes-Pyrénées, said every evening brought a flood of calls from hikers frightened by thunder, rain or dark clouds gathering overhead. The unit stressed that it only intervenes in genuine emergencies.
The PGHM is a specialised high-mountain unit of the French gendarmerie that carries out search and rescue operations across the Pyrenees.
A week of unpredictable weather
The rescuers said the weather had been especially unsettled in the mountains from Monday, August 17, through Sunday, August 23. Many of the alerts came in the form of text messages or satellite-linked iPhone beacon activations. Rescuers said hikers camping out overnight often called simply because it had started raining and they found themselves stuck outside.
Lightning strike in Cauterets
The warnings follow a serious incident on August 3 in Cauterets, a mountain resort town in the Hautes-Pyrénées, where two young hikers, aged 14 and 21, were struck by lightning and required emergency rescue.
That incident prompted the PGHM to repeat its safety advice for hikers caught out by bad weather in the mountains.
Rescuers' advice for hikers
The PGHM said hikers should always pack a good-quality tent and a change of clothes in case they get caught in the rain. It said bivouac spots should be planned in advance and the weather forecast checked beforehand, though this is harder for hikers on multi-day, point-to-point routes.
In those cases, the unit advised setting up camp close to a shelter or mountain refuge, or at least choosing a spot where water will not run off and pool.
Yellow storm alert
The rescue teams warned that storms already looked set to be severe, with the Hautes-Pyrénées department placed under a yellow weather alert for storms running through Monday, August 23, inclusive.
