A NORTH Yorkshire doctor has been confirmed as being among the climbers killed in an avalanche in the Scottish Highlands.

Dr Rachel Majumdar, from Merseyside, died along with her friends Christopher  Bell, Una Finnegan and Tom Chesters in Saturday's avalanche as they descended a mountain in Glencoe.

A 24-year-old woman is still in a critical condition in hospital, while a sixth climber also survived.

Dr Majumdar, 29, worked at Harrogate District Hospital, and Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has today issued a statement paying tribute to her, in which her colleague, Dr Rebecca Leigh, said: "Rachel was a gifted and dedicated doctor, who was in the middle of her training.

"A very promising medical career has been cut tragically short. She was one of the finest doctors I have ever worked with. 

"All the staff and patients who knew Rachel will remember her for her caring nature, with a smile and a friendly word for everybody. The thoughts of everybody at the hospital are with her family and friends at this very difficult time and we are offering every support we can to our staff."

The group were caught in the avalanche on Bidean Nam Bian at about 2pm on Saturday.

Five of them are thought to have been carried down the mountain when the slope they were on broke away, with the sixth member surviving by leaping from the collapsing snow and hammering an ice axe into the ground.