Scotland declares 'major' wildfire in Cairngorms national park

Scottish firefighters fought on Saturday against a wildfire burning through the Cairngorms national park in the north, with the authorities advising locals to evacuate.

The Scottish police have declared a "major incident" over the blaze, which has spread across some 600 hectares (1,500 acres) of the Highland park's heather and brush since being declared 10 days ago.

More than 500 firefighters have been deployed alongside helicopters to douse the flames in the Cairngorms, a mountain range west of Aberdeen which has long been a tourist attraction.

After chairing a crisis meeting on Friday evening, Scottish First Minister John Swinney called the efforts to tackle the fire "a complex and difficult situation".

But in a post on X on Saturday he also said "there has welcome change in wind direction overnight which has reduced the immediate threat" to the Highland village of Nethy Bridge.

The authorities ordered Nethy Bridge's some 650-strong population to leave "as a precaution".

Other residents of remote areas nearby were also being evacuated on Saturday morning, the firefighters said in a statement.

Local resident John McGlinchey told the BBC he felt disappointed that residents were "having to wait until the flames are almost on our doorstep and having to relocate at such notice".

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service likewise advised inhabitants of villages close to the blaze "to keep windows and doors closed as a precaution due to smoke from the wildfire".