Brecon Beacons: All missing schoolchildren confirmed found after search in Welsh national park

A rescue helicopter has landed on the hillside near some of the children and the crew are reportedly with them

General view of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Brecon, Wales (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Rescuers have found all of the English schoolchildren lost in the Brecon Beacons.

A Coastguard rescue helicopter has landed on the hillside near some of the children from St Albans, Hertfordshire, and the crew are reportedly with them.

Three mountain rescue teams, police and ambulance crews were sent to the area in south Wales at around 1pm.

The children, believed to be in their mid-teens, got lost around Llyn y Fan Fach, near Abercraf.

The headteacher of St Albans School, Jonathan Gillespie, told the BBC six or seven of their pupils were among the lost.

He said one group got into difficulty and contacted the police before being helped by members of staff.

Police told The Independent they received several 999 calls to report that the group was in difficulties as south west Wales was hit by heavy rainfall on Wednesday afternoon.

Three mountain rescue teams began searching the area near Tafarn Y Garreg, north of Abercraf in Powys, after the alarm was raised around 1pm.

It was initially reported that the children were lost in caves, but a spokesman for the Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team told the BBC the children were lost in low clouds.

Mark Moran said the rescue team had been in intermittent contact with four groups of six children, who are in their mid-teens and without an adult.

They were in the beacons as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Fourteen of the schoolchildren were reportedly being taken to the Tafarn-y-Garreg pub to recover.

Pub owner Andy Maglaras said. "We are just waiting for them to come down, they are up on a trail. We are getting some hot juice ready for them.

"The rescue mission is based in our car park. There are 10 or 15 vehicles in the search and the helicopter.

"They have told us they will be bringing the children here and to get them something hot to drink and keep them by the fire.

"14 [children] are meant to be coming here now. I think they were on a school trip, we get quite a few around here."

Additional reporting by PA