SNOWDON ‘ONE OF UK’S MOST DANGEROUS SELFIE SPOTS’
SNOWDON and Cadair Idris have been named as two of the most dangerous places in the UK to take a selfie, according to research.
A recent report said staycationers were putting their lives at risk across the country in a ‘tidal wave’ of avoidable mountain rescue, as lockdown restrictions ease.
Further research has been carried out by phone cover company case24.com, to discover which were the most dangerous places in the UK to snap a selfie for social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.
It identified 25 locations, including Snowdon and Cadair Idris – also in Snowdonia – as hotspots, as North Wales mountain rescue chief Chris Lloyd urged people to be careful taking pictures of themselves on the mountains.
The company conducted a survey of more than 3,000 people to find out if people were willing to risk their safety for a holiday snap and found 45% of Brits had already done so.
In addition 39% of respondents said they would stand on the edge of a cliff, 25% would walk on a train track and 17% would climb a building or landmark, to get a shot.
More worryingly, 69% said they would venture across a beach at low tide – without checking tide times, or venture across a field full of cattle – without taking caution – 40%.
Researchers then analysed news articles on Google from the last decade, accumulating beautiful but deadly locations in the UK, with a high number of reported incidents, including stranded holidaymakers and tragic cliff falls.
These were cross referenced with the number of Instagram hashtags (#) to date, indicating where high volumes of photos have been taken. Snowdon was second highest on the list with 362,423, behind Loch Lomond, 424,202. Cadair Idris had 20,706 hashtags.
From this research, case24.com produced the list, which also included Three Cliffs Bay, Pen y Fan – Powys and the Brecon Beacons in Wales.
Recently North Wales mountain rescuers have been called to help a group of freezing climbers on a 3,000ft mountain during driving rain and an ill-equipped walker lost in the dark 10 ft from the path.