Six Irish people airlifted from Sweden's highest mountain after freezing night stranded on peak

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A group of Irish people were airlifted from Sweden's highest mountain on Monday morning after they were stranded there overnight.

Six people were airlifted from the summit of Kebnekaise after they endured a freezing night on the peak of the mountain.

They had set out on Sunday to climb the 2,100 metres to the top of the mountain and reached the top.

But when travelling back down, the weather conditions deteriorated and the group got separated.

They were able to contact emergency services on their phones after they became stranded on the mountain.

Temperatures reached lows of -10C while strong winds also hit, with one person reported to have been wearing shorts on the baltic summit.

Swedish Mountain Rescue managed to airlift the climbers to safety by making two separate trips up the mountain on Monday morning.

They were not injured or harmed after the rough night on Kebnekaise.

President of the Swedish Mountain Rescuers National Organisation Rickard Svedjesten said rescue missions are a "common thing" at this time of year when autumn conditions start to bring freezing temperatures to the mountains.

"The biggest problem is [people] not being prepared for the weather," he told RTE Radio One's Today programme.

"They had bad equipment, bad clothing. The mountain rescuer in that area had to watch last night because they couldn't get the helicopter up because it was too cloudy.

"They got airlifted this morning and everyone is fine."

Mr Svedjesten added that many of Sweden's mountains have good phone coverage, while the summit on Kebnekaise also had a hut for the Irish climbers to shelter in.

"We have a pretty good mobile signal in the whole Swedish mountain range," he said.

"But you have to prepare yourself and check with locals, 'Do I have a signal here or do I need other equipment'.

"Everyone can do this mistake and that's the biggest problem we have here with the mountain rescue in Sweden because some people don't check the weather forecast before they go up on their trip."

He advised people to check Mountain Rescue Ireland for tips and advice ahead of making a trip abroad the climb a mountain.

"The mountain trips start at home so start to prepare your trip at home with all the equipment, check the forecast and talk to people," he said.