Two female hikers rescued after being struck by lightning at Snowdon peak in freak storm

Two women who were struck by lightning on the summit of Snowdon are “very lucky” to be alive, their rescuers have said.

Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team say they were called out by North Wales Police on Wednesday afternoon to assist with the rescue of the pair, who had been struck at the 3,506 foot (1,069 metre) peak of the mountain.

One of the women was “falling in and out of consciousness”, while the other had suffered minor injuries, the team said in a statement.

Both women, who had travelled to the summit in a group of five, were treated for non life-threatening injuries before being moved to a lower slope, where a coastguard helicopter arrived to fly them to a hospital in Bangor, Gwynedd.

Rescue coordinator Phil Benbow told the BBC that the pair had been “very lucky” and that people should “not be at the top of a mountain when thunder and lightning is about”.

He added: "As a team we didn't hang around on the summit or the ridge going down.”

Benbow said the team had been “very busy” since the easing of COVID restrictions began in June.

He urged anyone planning a trip to mountain tops, exposed ridges and open flat areas should first check if thunderstorms are forecast as those areas are “where lightning is most likely to strike”.

In October last year, a walker fell to his death on Snowdon, on a day where Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team carried out seven rescues.

The victim was the third person to die on the mountain in as many weeks.

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