Two sisters drowned in pools in Wales’s largest national park, an inquest has heard.

Hajra Zahid, 29, and Haleema Zahid, 25, were pulled from pools on the Watkin Path – one of the six main routes to the summit of Yr Wyddfa, or Snowdon, in North Wales on 11 June.

North Wales Police said officers were called to the scene in Eryri National Park, also known as Snowdonia, at 9.31pm after they received a report that a woman had been pulled from the water, and another was said to be in the pools.

Both sisters, who were born in Pakistan but lived in Maltsby, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, were pronounced dead at the scene before 11pm.

Inquests into their deaths were opened at the Dafydd Orwig Chamber in Caernarfon on Wednesday, and assistant coroner for north-west Wales, Sarah Riley, said they “sadly both died as a result of drowning”.

“Investigations continue in terms of how they came by their death and the inquest is therefore adjourned to allow for completion of those investigations,” she added, as she offered her condolences to the sisters’ family and friends.

The coroner said the siblings “had travelled to the Nant Gwynant area with friends from university”, with a friend later identifying the University of Chester students.

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Vice-chancellor of the University of Chester, Professor Eunice Simmons, said: “The University of Chester community is in mourning for the tragic loss of Haleema Zahid and Hajra Zahid and our heartfelt sympathies are with their families and friends during this incredibly difficult time.

“Haleema and Hajra had joined Chester Business School earlier this year on the Master’s in International Business course.

“They touched the lives of many here at Chester – their friends, the cohort on their course and the staff who taught them – and they will be deeply missed.”

A member of Irish-language rap group Kneecap has appeared in court in London after being charged with a terror offence – as hundreds of protesters gathered outside.

Liam O’Hanna, or Liam Og O hAnnaidh, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.

The charge against the 27-year-old, from Belfast, was brought last month after counter-terror officers assessed a video reported to be from a Kneecap concert at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London, on 21 November 2024.

O hAnnaidh arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday with bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, as a crowd of fans and supporters gathered with placards and flags outside.

During a short appearance, O hAnnaidh confirmed his name and address, and was released on unconditional bail until his next hearing on 20 August.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told him he must attend court on that day.

Kneecap released their first single in 2017 and rose to wider prominence in 2024 following the release of their debut album and award-winning eponymous film – a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together and their fight to save the Irish language.

The group are known for their provocative lyrics and merchandise – and have been vocally opposed to Israel’s military action in Gaza.

O hAnnaidh performs under the stage name Mo Chara, while O Caireallain is known as Moglai Bap, and O Dochartaigh as DJ Provai.

They have built a following for their hedonistic anti-establishment tracks, but their outspoken stance has proved polarising – prompting a surge in streaming for their songs and, at the same time, resulting in several of their gigs being cancelled this year.

Last year, they won a discrimination case against the UK government after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was business secretary.

The UK has a 50:50 chance of seeing temperatures of 40C or more again in the next 12 years, the Met Office said.

And temperatures of 45C or more “may be possible” as the risk of extreme heat continues to rise with climate change, experts warned in a new study.

Temperatures first hit 40C in the UK during a record-breaking heatwave in 2022, peaking at 40.3C in Coningsby in Lincolnshire on 19 July. The previous top temperature was 38.7C in Cambridge, recorded in 2019.

The extreme heat caused dozens of fires, which ripped through houses, schools, churches and farmland, with fire brigades in London, Leicestershire and South Yorkshire declaring major incidents at the time.

There was also widespread disruption to transport and power systems.

More than 3,000 heat-related deaths were recorded in England over summer 2022, including more than 1,000 excess deaths among older people around the four-day peak of the heatwave.

The risk of 40C temperatures in the UK has been rapidly increasing, according to analysis by the Met Office using global models to create a large number of climate outcomes in current conditions.

The chance of temperatures hitting 40C is now 20 times more likely than it was in the 1960s, and the odds have almost tripled since 2000.

Temperatures soaring to a maximum of 46.6C is also considered “plausible”.

There is a 50:50 chance of temperatures hitting 40C again in the next 12 years as climate change pushes up temperatures, the Met Office said in the study published in Weather Journal.

“Because our climate continues to warm, we can expect the chance [of exceeding 40C] to keep rising,” Dr Gillian Kay, senior scientist at the Met Office, and lead author of the study, said.

Heatwaves could also go on for a month or more in the future, with a climate model showing up to two-thirds of summer days could be above the heatwave threshold of 28C.

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Twelve consecutive days above 35C is also possible, according to the study.

Dr Nick Dunstone, Met Office science fellow and co-author of the study, said the findings showed the UK needed to prepare and plan for the impacts of rising temperatures to “better protect public health, infrastructure, and the environment from the growing threat of extreme heat”.