Welsh police overhaul mountain 999 rules after two young climbers' dropped call on Snowdon went three hours without alerting rescuers

Jayden Long, 19, and Eddie Hill, 20, left Norwich to climb Snowdon on 18 February, only to turn back after conditions deteriorated sharply. Long dialled 999 at 4.27pm, but the call dropped; police heard him say 'hello' and 'can you hear me?' yet did not notify mountain rescue for more than three hours. Both men were found dead the following morning, having fallen on ice-covered ground.

Coroner Sarah Riley concluded that North Wales Police lacked any force-wide protocol for handling dropped calls from remote areas, cautioning of 'significant risk of future deaths'.

Under the revised policy, staff must consider contacting mountain rescue whenever a 999 call that is silent or has lost connection is confirmed as originating from a remote or mountainous location.

The inquest returned accidental death verdicts, though Riley also criticised the force's failure to effectively circulate lessons drawn from the incident.