The accident happened in good conditions. Photo: KA CC-BY-SA-2.0

One person has died and another was seriously injured today in a climbing accident on Britain’s highest mountain.

Police said the pair fell ‘a considerable distance’ from near the summit of the 1,344m (4,409ft) mountain.

The climbers were near the top of Zero Gully on Ben Nevis’s North Face when they both fell.

Northern Constabulary said it was alerted shortly before 11am today and Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team went to the climbers’ aid.

A Sea King helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth also flew to the scene, but one of the climbers had received fatal injuries.

The crew of the helicopter flew the surviving casualty to the Belford Hospital in Fort William for further medical treatment.

Police said no further details on the age or sex of the climbers will be released until next of kin can be notified.

Zero Gully is a grade V winter climbing route. Rescuers estimated the pair fell more than 350m (1,150ft). Conditions on the mountain were described as good at the time of the accident.