Two mountaineers were airlifted from a north Wales mountain side after calling for help last night.

The married couple became stuck while climbing on Twll Du – or the Devil’s Kitchen – on Glyder Fawr in the Ogwen Valley. A Sea King helicopter from RAF Valley plucked the climbers from the cliffs and flew them to safety after they called for help from their mobile phone just before midnight.

Members of Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team found the couple and called in the RAF search-and-rescue helicopter.

The RAF Valley Mountain Rescue Team and the Ogwen Valley volunteer team also took part in the rescue of two snowboarders lost on the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin in the Irish Republic.

Twenty rescuers were flown by helicopter across the Irish Sea to the site to assist the Irish Coastguard-led operation to find the two men in their 30s. The two men were found by the mountain rescue teams near the summit of Lugnaquilla, suffering from hypothermia after spending the night on the 925m (3,035ft) mountain.

MRTs from Northern Ireland  also joined in the search for the pair, working with rescue teams from Dublin, Wicklow and Glen of Imaal and the  Irish army.

The men were flown to hospital in Dublin for treatment.