Two

walkers are reported to have gone missing near the summit of Snowdon, the

highest peak in Wales. John Watkins, aged 21 and Melanie McBrian, 19, (21)

________ by nightfall, leading to fears that they (22) __________ forced to

spend the night on the mountain

Weather

conditions, when the pair (23)_________off yesterday morning, were fairly good.

By the afternoon , however, it had got much worse. Thick clouds quickly spread

over the region and there was a sharp drop in temperature. The surface of the

local lakes began to freeze within a few hours. Blizzards began in the evening

, with a great deal of snow falling above 500 metres.

Friends

of the two walkers (24)__________that they hadn’t heard from either of them.

They think their mobile phones (25) ________ unusable for some reason.

Melanie’s friend Janet Richards believes Melanie would have called her to say

they were alright if her phone had been working properly. Joe Hill , a friend

of John’s, admits he (26) ___________ they (27) ____________an accident last

night, but insists they have a lot of experience walking in the mountains of

Wales. They would have found shelter if they had been forced to stay on the mountain

during last night.

Mountain

rescue teams, which began looking for the couple early this morning, say that

one or both of the walkers

The

hope is, though, that they (30) ___________ safe before long, especially as the

weather is forecast to clear up within the next few hours.