Seven teenagers - members of a Girls Brigade group - have been rescued from the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland.

They had tried to make a 999 call but it disconnected and police could not re-establish a connection. However they traced the phone to the group of teenagers.

A search was mounted involving the PSNI, the Irish coastguard helicopter, search and rescue specialists and the mountain rescue crews.

The group was eventually found amid fading visibility and poor weather conditions and were safely removed from the mountain.

Two of the girls were suffering the effects of extreme cold and were taken to hospital as a precaution, but they have all now been reunited with their parents.