Police failings in friends' death on Yr Wyddfa could risk lives, coroner warns

More people could die on remote mountains unless police do a better job in responding to dropped 999 calls, a coroner has warned.

The bodies of friends Eddie Hill, 20, and Jayden Long, 19, both from Dereham, Norfolk, were found on a mountain ridge in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia , on 19 February, a day after a call from Long to North Wales Police was disconnected.

Officers did try unsuccessfully to call him back, but then made "limited" efforts to find out who owned the phone and took more than three hours to alert mountain rescue, assistant coroner Sarah Riley said.

North Wales Police said it had taken steps to strengthen its policies and procedures.

Hill and Long died in extreme winter conditions on Crib y Ddysgl, a ridge that peaks at 1,065m (3,494ft), less than a mile north of Yr Wyddfa's summit and linking it to the notoriously narrow ridge of Crib Goch.

A Prevention of Future Deaths report said police received a discontinued call from Long's mobile phone at 16:27 GMT on 18 February.

A playback captured him saying "hello" and "can you hear me?" before the call was lost.

The mountain rescue team told an inquest into their deaths that it did not have enough information about the location or nature of Long's 999 call to act immediately.

After further inquiries, including making contact with family members, mountain rescue teams and a coastguard helicopter searched the last known position of the two men but found no trace.

A decision was made to continue the search at first light.

A search and rescue dog team joined the mountain rescue teams for the search on the following morning, when the walkers' bodies were found.

The coroner identified several areas of concern following the inquest, including a lack of guidance or training for staff dealing with calls from remote mountainous locations and inadequate systems for sharing lessons learned from the incident.

"Unless action is taken to address the above concerns then there is a significant risk of future deaths," Riley said.

North Wales Police said it amended its communications centre policy in September 2026 to include specific guidance on handling silent or disconnected 999 calls from remote or mountainous locations.

Call handlers are now expected to consider alerting mountain rescue teams where a caller's location can be confirmed and, learning from the incident has been shared with communications staff.

The force said it hoped the response would "provide reassurance that the concerns identified have been addressed and that lessons arising from this tragic incident have been recognised and acted upon".

Sir Tom Jones 'truly sorry' as he cancels two shows due to illness

Parents said goodbye to dancer son, 28, after stroke - now he hopes to perform again

Campaigners warn Welsh island could be target for nuclear attack