Recognising Signs of Hypothermia in Wet Weather

Why the Yorkshire Dales Catch People Out So Quickly

The Dales are not the Highlands, and that is precisely what makes them deceptive. A gentle walk from Malham to Gordale Scar, or up onto Ingleborough from Clapham, can begin in warm sunshine and finish in horizontal rain within the hour. Add wind chill on the tops and sudden temperature drops in the valleys, and a pleasant summer ramble becomes a genuine risk.

Hypothermia is simply the body losing heat faster than it can generate it. It rarely arrives dramatically. It creeps in through wet clothing, a cold wind and a walker who is too polite to say they are struggling. Wet fabric conducts heat away from the body many times faster than dry air, so a soaked cotton t-shirt under a leaking jacket is far more dangerous than a dry fleece in a biting wind. The moment your core temperature starts to slide below around 35°C, judgement begins to fail — and that is when people make the decisions that turn a cold walk into a rescue.

The Early Warning Signs You Should Never Ignore

In the early stage, hypothermia is easy to treat and easy to miss. Watch for:

• Persistent shivering that does not stop when you add a layer or pick up the pace
• Cold, pale skin and numb fingers or lips that fumble with zips and buckles
• Loss of fine motor control — struggling with a rucksack strap, a flask lid or a map case
• Withdrawal and irritability, or unusual quietness from someone normally chatty
• Complaints of feeling cold in the middle of the body, not just hands and feet

That last point matters. Cold extremities are normal on a winter hill. Cold trunk, cold groin, cold armpits — that is the body protecting its core by shutting down the periphery, and it means you are already behind.

When Shivering Stops, You Have a Problem

Many people assume shivering is the worst sign. It is the opposite. Shivering is the body fighting hard. When it stops and the person is still cold, the core temperature has dropped far enough that the muscles can no longer generate heat.

At this stage you will see:

• Confusion and poor decisions — insisting they are fine, refusing to stop, walking off a path
• Slurred speech and slow, muddled answers to simple questions
• Clumsiness and a stumbling, drunken gait
• Drowsiness, or a strange irrational calm
• Slow, shallow breathing and a weak pulse in more advanced cases

Ask something simple: their name, the day, where you last stopped. If the answer is slow or wrong, treat it as serious and act immediately. Do not walk them onward to the car park.

Shelter First, Then Strip the Wet Layers

Get out of the wind and rain before anything else. A drystone wall, a barn, a bothy, a hollow behind a peat bank — anything that blocks the wind makes an enormous difference. Wind strips heat from exposed skin and wet fabric faster than cold air alone.

Then:

• Remove wet layers — jacket, midlayer, trousers, socks, gloves. Everything soaked comes off, even if it means cutting clothing away.
• Dry the skin with a spare fleece, a towel or a buff, patting rather than rubbing.
• Insulate the core with dry layers, a spare fleece, a down jacket and both sleeping bags if you have them. Wrap the head and neck too.
• Add external warmth — a warm (not scalding) hot water bottle or heat pads to the armpits, chest and groin, over a thin layer of fabric, never directly on skin.
• Share body heat in a sleeping bag or bivvy bag if you have one. Skin-to-skin under dry insulation is genuinely effective.
• Give warm, sweet drinks if they are fully alert and able to swallow. Sugary fluids help, warmth helps.

Warm them gradually. Rapid rewarming of the limbs can push cold blood back to the core and make things worse, so focus on the trunk first.

What Not to Do

• Do not rub the skin or massage the limbs — it can damage tissue and drive cold blood inward.
• Do not give alcohol. It widens blood vessels and accelerates heat loss.
• Do not put them in a hot bath or shower and do not place them next to a roaring fire.
• Do not let them walk once confusion or loss of shivering has set in.
• Do not delay a call for help if the signs are worsening. Dial 999, ask for Mountain Rescue, and give a grid reference from your map or phone.

Staying Ahead of the Weather

In the Dales, the practical answer is preparation. Carry waterproofs even on a bright forecast, pack a spare dry fleece and hat in a dry bag, and keep a foil blanket and a hot flask in your rucksack all year. Eat and drink steadily — a walker running low on fuel chills far faster. Turn back early if the cloud drops or the wind picks up, and check on the quietest member of your group, because they are often the one who will not speak up.

The British countryside rewards good judgement. Treat cold and wet as a genuine hazard rather than an inconvenience, and most days out will end with nothing worse than damp boots and a decent story.