Snowdon: Visitors told to respect Wales' largest mountain

Litter, queues and traffic have all increased with more and more people visiting Snowdon, the largest mountain in Wales.

Nearly three quarters of a million people now visit the mountain each year, an increase of 200,000 in the last three years.

In July there were reports of 45-minute queues to the top. It's thought the increase is a result of more people holidaying at home because of coronavirus restrictions on travelling to other countries outside of the UK.

Hiker Elfed Williams said this year has been "the worst I remember".

"They're the people who I think usually go to Spain or whatever for their holiday but they've decided to stay in the UK and come to Wales.

"Of course everybody's allowed to go up the mountain, you can't stop anybody, but you can see they're not used walking a mountain with the clothing they've got on.

"I've seen a few - you won't believe this - with flip-flops and things," Elfed said, adding that it's dangerous and puts pressure on the emergency services who have to help people if they fall or get stuck.

"Please come, by all means, but please respect the mountain."

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John Harold, director of the Snowdonia Society, said: "Snowdon is a very big mountain, it's not a walk in the park, it's not a day in town, or a day on the beach... people need to be prepared."

Snowdon, known as Yr Wyddfa in Welsh, is a popular tourist attraction and is already the busiest mountain in the United Kingdom with hundreds of thousands of people walking up the 1,085m (3,560 ft) peak. The top of the mountain, called the summit can be reached by six main paths and by the Snowdon Mountain Railway.