HM Coastguard - Aberdeen City & Shire

Recruitment

HM Coastguard is the UK’s 999 Maritime and Coastal emergency service.

The training for this intake will take place in the Aberdeen area - accommodation can be provided but you must be able to attend the following dates:

• Mon 21st to Fri 25th Sept 2026 inclusive and
• Sat 3rd and Sun 4th Oct 2026.

This training will include casualty care, navigation, communications, water rescue and much more!

Our latest new recruits from Macduff Coastguard Rescue Team recently attended helicopter training with our aircraft from Inverness, alongside team members from Fraserburgh and Peterhead. Continual training progresses throughout your time with HM Coastguard.

For further information and to apply, please visit the following link.

https://hmcoastguard.uk/volunteer-as-a-coastguard

Recruitment closes Sunday 7th June 2026.

🚨 RECRUITMENT IS NOW OPEN! 🚨

Looking to do something rewarding and give back to your local communities?

We’re currently looking for volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers to join our teams based in the following locations: Macduff, Fraserburgh, Peterhead, Cruden Bay, Aberdeen and Stonehaven.

HM Coastguard is the UK’s 999 Maritime and Coastal emergency service.

As a Coastguard Rescue Officer you’ll be fully trained and equipped to carry out Search & Rescue operations along our coastline. From searching for a missing person, to conducting a cliff rescue, you could be called out, at any time, in all weathers, to save a life! 🛟

Volunteering with us is a rewarding role that supports and gives back to your local community!

If you are interested in joining HM Coastguard as a Coastguard Rescue Officer you must:

🔵 Be aged 18 years or over.
🟡 Hold a full UK driving license.
🔵 Live or work within a reasonable distance of the Coastguard Rescue station.
🟡 Be physically fit and able to pass a Coastguard health assessment and undergo a Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme check.

No previous experience is required, as full training will be provided. You must be able to attend all training dates listed on the application form.

For further information and to apply, please visit the following link.

https://hmcoastguard.uk/volunteer-as-a-coastguard

Recruitment closes Sunday 7th June 2026.

Volunteer as a coastguard The Coastguard Rescue Service is made up of volunteers who carry out rescues and help those in distress around our coast.

Rope rescue training

Earlier this week, the full time Officers from North East Scotland, joined by a Headquarters project officer and 2 Coastguard Rescue Officer rope rescue technicians, undertook 3 days of rope rescue training at Red Head, near Lunan Bay.

A full range of technical rope rescue scenarios were exercised, including our new recovery system, animal rescue, stretcher recovery, to the complex rescue of persons clinging to the cliff face.

This training enables our instructors and full time staff to practice and develop skills to assist in the training of our volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams.

Across North East Scotland, HM Coastguard maintain 6 technical rope rescue teams at Burghead, Buckie, Macduff, Cruden Bay, Stonehaven and Arbroath.

Remember, if you are walking in and around the cliffs at the coast - stay well away from the edge and if you are walking your dogs, they should be kept on a lead near cliffs. In an emergency, dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

Officer in Charge Training

This weekend, Coastguard Rescue Officers from across Area 3 took part in an Officer in Charge training course in Stonehaven.

The course featured a number of guest speakers from our partner agencies, giving CROs the opportunity to learn more about their capabilities and how we work together during multi-agency incidents.

The second half of the weekend focused on briefing techniques, command and control, and on-scene management during lost and missing person searches.

Well done to everyone who took part!

A huge thank you to our guest speakers from Police Scotland North East, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service,Scottish Ambulance Service, RNLI and MRCC Aberdeen.

We’d also like to extend a massive thanks to RNLI Stonehaven for hosting the course.

🌊 Congratulations to our newest Coastguard Rescue Officers! 🚨👏

We’re delighted to announce that our latest group of Coastguard Rescue Officers have successfully completed their new entry course. They’ll now be joining Coastguard Rescue Team.

Over the last few weeks of intensive training, each of them has shown real dedication, teamwork and commitment. We are proud to welcome them into HM Coastguard.

Rope Technician Training – Area 3

Over the weekend, Coastguard Rescue Officers (CROs) from teams across Area 3 successfully completed an intensive Rope Technician course, led by our Area Commander and a Senior Coastal Operations Officer from Area 2.

Rope Technicians play a vital role in cliff rescue operations — descending steep terrain to reach casualties, providing immediate care and extricating them to a place of safety.

Throughout the course, CROs developed and refined essential skills including stretcher recovery, accompanied descents, self-recovery techniques and animal rescue.

👏 A huge well done to everyone involved for their dedication and teamwork.

Superintendent Simon Reid said: “The multi-agency partnership continues to meet to provide a co-ordinated response to the prolonged adverse weather we are experiencing to effectively support and reconnect communities within the North East.

“Despite the challenging situation, the local authorities are doing all they can to clear the main roads and footpaths, with huge support from community groups, contractors and local farmers.

“Additional equipment, such as snow ploughs and tractors, is also being volunteered to ensure vital services and deliveries to major supermarkets can continue.”

In Aberdeenshire:

More than 64 drivers are covering 32 primary routes, seven days a week, with additional drivers brought in throughout recent days to support operations.
There are 64 gritters, two tractor-mounted snow blowers and 47 footway gritters working to clear primary and secondary roadways and pavements.
Around 170 staff have been redeployed to help clear footpaths, focusing on key establishments like sheltered housing schemes and care homes.
In Aberdeen City:

There are 15 gritters with ploughs working on a 24/7 schedule since Hogmanay on primary routes, with 14 additional tractors focusing on pavements and 31 diggers brought in from private contractors to tackle side roads.
Around 90 staff are working on the roads, and 250 additional staff are out manually gritting pavements. Pavements in the city centre have been constantly gritted every day, both morning and during the day.
More than 8,000 tonnes of rock salt have been used so far for gritting, with further stock on the way.
In Moray:

Around 80 members of staff are engaged in winter operations with 36 gritters with ploughs deployed across the area working seven days a week, with 50 drivers on the rota.
There are an additional 20 footpath ploughs working across the region.
More than 2,000 tonnes of rock salt have been used on the roads and footpaths.
The trunk road operating company in the Northeast, Amey, between 1 - 5 January, 2026:

More than 3700 tonnes of rock salt used across the North East network, with the winter fleet covering almost 63,000 miles.
Fourteen frontline spreaders have been treating and ploughing on the A90, A95 and A96, with seven also working overnight to manage drifting snow..
There have been 38 treatments every day since 1 January, with continuous patrols before, between and after treatments.
SEPA is monitoring potential flood risks, and members of the public in areas which could be affected should review the risk assessment on SEPA’s website on a regular basis.

There have been no major issues reported regarding gas and electricity provision and all hospitals remain open, as does Aberdeen Airport.

We have received information that households in Fraserburgh, Rosehearty, Fetterangus and New Deer have been unable to receive deliveries from their local supermarkets as a result of access and egress issues in their area.

Road and footpath clearing efforts are being treated as a priority to ensure communities can access vital services and amenities as soon as possible.

Anyone needing information on the support available to them can contact:

Aberdeen City Council Crisis Support Line 0800 0304 713
Aberdeenshire l or 0345 608 1208
Moray – 01343 543451. For care needs, contact [email protected]
A yellow warning is live until 3pm on Saturday, 10 January, and covers the majority of the Scottish mainland. It highlights the risk of further wintry showers in some areas, and a more widespread forecast for ice.

The public is also advised to remain vigilant to falling ice as the temperature dips and rises.

Additionally, a further spell of snow forecast for Sunday has led to a yellow warning for snow and ice being put in place, covering a large part of mainland Scotland, from 2am on Sunday, 11 January until 3pm that afternoon.

Anyone within the Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire or Morayshire regions who believes they are currently vulnerable, or could become vulnerable if adverse weather continues, can request support via their relevant local authority website.

Members of the public are thanked for their continued support of the multi-agency response.

More information, including useful contact details and further information on how to contact your local authority is is available here: https://orlo.uk/iD28D

Callout - severe weather assistance - Grampian

Coastguard Rescue Teams and full time staff from across the North East have been deployed across the Grampian area since Sunday 4th January, assisting our partner agencies during the sustained period of snowfall.

Our teams from Burghead, Macduff, Fraserburgh, Cruden Bay, Aberdeen and Stonehaven have completed 19 taskings on behalf of NHS Grampian and the Scottish Ambulance Service, helping critical staff get to work or bringing patients to hospital sites for essential treatments.

Although not our main role, the capability of our 4x4 vehicles and trained drivers allow us to provide assistance to other agencies when required.

Recruitment - Coastal Operations Officer

The exciting opportunity to join our team of full time officers, as a Coastal Operations Officer across the North East of Scotland, is still live but applications will close soon!

The role will involve supporting the management of Coastguard Rescue Teams, assisting with logistics involving vehicles and equipment, governance and estates.

Interested? Think you've got what it takes? Visit this link for more information and to submit your application:

https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=b3duZXI9NTA3MDAwMCZ1c2Vyc2VhcmNoY29udGV4dD0xNjU3NTI1MDcmc2VhcmNoc29ydD1zY29yZSZqb2JsaXN0X3ZpZXdfdmFjPTE5ODE4MDkmcGFnZWFjdGlvbj12aWV3dmFjYnlqb2JsaXN0JnBhZ2VjbGFzcz1Kb2JzJm93bmVydHlwZT1mYWlyJnNlYXJjaHBhZ2U9MSZyZXFzaWc9MTc2NjQwNTU2NS0zYTk2YWQ5Y2ExMGIzZThlYjYxZjJkMGMwZDgyMmM1Y2QwNGY4ZWVi