"Be prepared and carry a compass and map for climbing Goatfell" - that is the message from the Arran Mountain Rescue Team after Google this week had to adapt its mapping service after fears that walkers may mistakenly attempt "potentially fatal" routes up Scottish mountains.

Last Thursday, Scottish mountaineering charities issued a warning to hillwalkers not to use Google Maps to guide them up the mountains after a series of incidents where routes downloaded off the internet has resulted in "injury or worse".

The advice issued by Mountaineering Scotland came after reports of Google Maps offering up a 'potentially fatal' route up Ben Nevis.

The John Muir Trust, which looks after the summit of the UK's highest mountain, said it had raised a specific concern about the directions to the car park closest to Nevis. 

The route from this car park was "highly dangerous, even for experienced climbers", they warned.

And the trust said that a dotted line leading from the car park to the summit could lead walkers into danger.

The tech giant has since adapted the route to direct drivers to a visitor centre instead.

Closer to home, Goatfell on the isle of Arran is often considered many Ayrshire residents' first ever mountain climb.  

Its peak that dominates the coastline from Ballantrae to West Kilbride sees between 40,000 and 50,000 hikers of all ages each year, and even more since easings of coronavirus restrictions over the past two summers.

The Herald spoke to Ewan McKinnon from Arran Mountain Rescue about alternatives to Google Maps to stay safe whilst walking.

He explained: "The hill is pretty busy at the moment and as things open up again in the next few weeks, it'll get even busier with daytrippers.

"The Google map thing has bee pretty common even pre-lockdown, we are being pretty realistic, Goatfell is a lot of people's first hill, some might have not been up one in years, but there is a lot of things people can do before they leave that will give them a better chance at not getting lost and ruining their day.

"My advice would be to always carry a map and compass as you can't always rely on mobile GPS. 

"For instance, Google maps will only give you a rough route, even GPS can only show to the nearest hundred metres at times so it won't always be accurate.

"The best thing you can do is be prepared. Look at the routes online before you set off, plan it using websites like WalkHighlands and look at maps to see what to expect. 

"Ideally having a map and compass, if a cloud comes in, there is no visibility at the top. At the planning stage, people can get things right so avoids them getting into trouble later on. 

"You can get GPS maps for your phones, they are proper ordnance survey ones. They aren't Google Maps that may or may not follow paths, and if they do, it is going to be pretty rough.

"If you can only see 30 metres ahead of you, then Google maps GPS is only 100 metres accuracy, then it isn't much help. 

"But even then you shouldn't rely on mobile phone maps, your battery might die or not work, you can always rely on a compass and paper map.

"Saying that, people are being really careful and we haven't got too many instances of people getting lost this year."

And with the ongoing heatwave, Ewan says that the challenge now rather is people being caught out by the heat.

He continued: "On Thursday there, we had several people caught out by the weather. 

"Before you set off thinking about how warm it is going to be. Try to set off early to avoid the hotter temperatures. It goes without saying, water is important but also to eat plenty as blood sugar can dip and cause dizziness."