Fire crews battling forest wildfire between Highlands and Moray

Firefighters are continuing to battle a forest wildfire between the Highlands and Moray.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said it was alerted to the blaze in the Culbin Forest area, which stretches around 20 miles from Nairn, Highlands, to Burghead in Elgin, Moray.

The service received a call at 8.37am on Monday and said crews continue to battle the fire as of 10.20pm.

Three pumps, an all-terrain vehicle and a water carrier unit are in attendance, and no injuries have been reported.

An SFRS spokesperson said: “We are still there but have scaled down due it being so late, but the fire is still ongoing.

“At the moment, we have three appliances and two special appliances, including an all-terrain vehicle.

“The affected area was approximately 500m by 250m as of this morning.”

Police Scotland said it was called to the scene at 3.10pm on Monday.

It asked members of the public to avoid the area.

It comes after firefighters extinguished a wildfire near Shotts, North Lanarkshire.

Six fire appliances went to the scene in the Springhill and Leadloch Road areas just outside Shotts after the alarm was raised at 4.09pm on Sunday.

More than 30 firefighters were involved at the height of the incident, which came as an “extreme” risk of wildfire warning was in place across Scotland.

Firefighters were at the scene on Monday morning but left at about 10am after extinguishing the blaze.

Due to high winds, smoke was drifting across Shotts on Sunday and residents were told to keep their windows and doors closed.

People in the nearby towns of Motherwell, Wishaw and Newmains were advised to stay vigilant and keep their windows and doors shut if they could see smoke.

An SFRS warning of “extreme” risk of wildfire across the country came into force on Thursday May 15 and is in place until Monday May 19.