A man has died after being struck by lightning near the summit of Germany’s highest peak.

The 18-year-old German resident was one of a group of three young men who took the mountain railway up the Zugspitze late on Sunday afternoon and then continued to the summit, which is a climb of about 260ft from a terrace used by many visitors.

Lightning struck repeatedly as the men descended from the summit and the 18-year-old suffered a fatal electric shock, police said.

Recovery efforts were complicated by the storm.

The Zugspitze is 9,718ft above sea level and is located in the Alps on Germany’s border with Austria.

Several parts of Germany were hit by storms on Sunday. In Delmenhorst, in the north of the country, a family of eight had taken shelter under a tree in a park when lightning struck. All eight were hurt, and a five-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.