The pair camped at Hard Tarn near Nethermost Pike. Photo: Bob Smith/grough

A Lake District rescue team pleaded with the public to plan ahead and check weather forecasts after it was called out five times over the weekend, including three in one day.

Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team had to go to the aid of two men wild camping who couldn’t find their way off the fells when they woke up in mist.

The young men from London called 999 and the Patterdale team was called out about 8.30am on Sunday.

The incident came during a weekend that saw its volunteers spending 18 hours on callouts.

Nine team members made the ascent to Hard Tarn near Nethermost Pike and escorted the pair to safety in the valley.

Team leader Mike Blakey said: “Once again we’d like to take the opportunity to remind those who are visiting the mountains of the Lake District to check the weather forecast before venturing out.

“The heavy rain which arrived on Saturday evening, and the associated low cloud, should have been no surprise to anyone venturing onto the fells.

“Mountain rescue teams are entirely voluntary and, although team members are always willing to assist those in need, it can be frustrating and tiring when teams are called to those who could have avoided the situation that they found themselves in.

“This is particularly so when teams are already stretched dealing with more serious incidents.”

The team’s first callout of the weekend came on Friday afternoon when a mountain biker suffered an open fracture to his leg while taking part in an organised race.

Team members treated him at the scene before the Great North Air Ambulance flew him to hospital.

Patterdale MRT was called out for a second time when an 84-year-old man fell while walking with his family from Howtown to Patterdale. He suffered a head and facial injury and became disorientated and confused following the fall. He was treated by one of the team’s doctors on scene and then taken by the team’s rescue boat across Ullswater before being taken to hospital.

As team members were completing the rescue of the wild campers about 2pm on Sunday, they were called to help a woman who had fallen and broken her shoulder while tackling the Coast to Coast Walk.

A Patterdale MRT spokesperson said: “Team members, assisted by Penrith Mountain Rescue Team, climbed back up the valley they had just returned from to assist the woman.

“She was treated on scene and then lowered on a stretcher to the waiting Great North Air Ambulance before she was flown to hospital for treatment.”

Simultaneously, the team was alerted by police to a 12-year-old boy who had fallen about 20ft from Swirral Edge on Helvellyn.

The spokesperson said: “Team members were sent to locate the boy and his father but they had made their own way safely to the valley.”

The team was in action again on Tuesday when a 70-year-old man collapsed on the Ullswater shore path between Patterdale and Sandwick.

The spokesperson said: “The gentleman from the Lincoln area was suffering from a cardiac problem so once a team doctor had assessed him it was decided to request assistance from the [Great North Air Ambulance Service] to expedite a swift transfer time to hospital.

“The casualty was transported from scene on the team’s rescue boat and then transferred to the care of the GNAAS doctor and [North West Ambulance Service] paramedics before onward travel to Carlisle hospital.”

Ten Patterdale MRT volunteers were involved in the 3½-hour rescue.