The wintry weather may make the countryside look beautiful under its white winter blanket, but it also means much more danger.
While slips and trips can happen anywhere and those sitting in car seats can fall victim to accidents on icy roads, some of the greatest dangers to life and limb can be posed to those who venture into the great outdoors, often deliberately taking on the challenge of harsh winter conditions due to a sense of adventure, or as preparation for an overseas challenge.
Thrilling though this can be, such activities can keep mountain rescue busy and many a helicopter stretcher has been needed at this time of year.
An example of this came in the Lake District, where a man suffered a fatal fall as he attempted to scale a snow-covered Sharp Edge on Blencathra, a knife-edge ridge that is notoriously slippery when wet.
The tragedy was not due to a lack of equipment or response, with a Mountain Rescue helicopter swiftly on the scene. However, while rescuers were only able to recover a lifeless body on this occasion, in many other situations a stretcher could be invaluable in helping get an injured climber to safety.
In its advice on scrambling the ridge, the British Mountaineering Club advises that climbers avoid slippery conditions, but many will take the risk.
The stereotype of the kind of person who gets into trouble in challenging mountain conditions is an inexperienced visitor who is unfamiliar with conditions and lacks essential equipment like a map, the right footwear and clothing, or adequate food and drink.
While many mountain rescues do involve such people, they can also include some experienced and well-equipped mountaineers who have still got into trouble in harsh conditions.
Examples included a snow avalanche on Great End in the Lake District in 2010 that left Alan Hinkes, the only Briton to scale all 14 of the world’s peaks over 8,000 metres, narrowly escaping death. He was airlifted off the peak by a Mountain Rescue helicopter.