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Social media and map apps blamed for rise in mountain rescue callouts

The Guardian

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April 16, 2025

"Honeypot" locations posted on social media and poor quality navigation apps are likely responsible for a record number of callouts for mountain rescue services, including a huge rise in young people needing to be saved, analysis of figures has revealed.

- Robyn Vinter

Social media and map apps blamed for rise in mountain rescue callouts

For the first time in history, mountain rescue teams in England and Wales were called out every day of the year in 2024. Callouts in Scotland topped 1,000 for the first time ever.

Rescues of all age groups jumped by 24% between 2019 and 2024, data from Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW) that was analysed by Ordnance Survey (OS) and shared with the Guardian showed.

However, among the 18-24 age group, rescues almost doubled, from 166 to 314.

MREW put the increase down to the growth in popularity of "honeypot" locations - beauty spots and photogenic places popular on TikTok and Instagram - as well as younger people relying less on paper maps and more on apps that lack detail or do not work offline, which is needed to navigate safely in remote areas.

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