A woman from Edinburgh has become the youngest Briton to scale the north and south faces of the world's highest mountain.

Mollie Hughes successfully scaled the peak of Mount Everest from the north face in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The 26-year-old was joined by a guide, Jon Gupta, in her attempt to reach the 29,029ft summit.

Together they battled temperatures as low as -40C, with Ms Hughes also setting the record as the youngest European woman to achieve the feat.

She beats the previous record held by Northern Irish woman Lynne Hannah who, aged 54 last year, achieved both ascents.

Ms Hughes said: "I am elated, exhausted and know I still have the hardest part to do - the long and difficult descent to base camp.

"Jon and I have already spent more than four weeks acclimatising on the mountain.

"Thanks to a weather window, yesterday evening we left Camp 3 (27,231ft) and we've finally reached the top.

"The climbing has been really, really hard but our mental and physical strength got us up here. I can confirm that the north side is definitely more difficult than the south side."

Ms Hughes, originally from Devon, was just 21 when she first climbed the south side of the mountain five years ago.

The north route from base camp in Tibet, China, is considered to expose the mountaineers to colder and windier conditions.

The pair took the novel approach of using a Rubik's Cube to test their mental alertness at altitude and to keep occupied during rest, and listening to upbeat tracks like Britney Spears' Hit me Baby One More Time as encouragement up the mountain.

Their efforts have now raised more than £8000 for Cancer Research UK.

She added: "Huge thanks to Jon, the Sherpas, family, friends and to Tiso as my principle sponsor on this expedition.

"I am really proud to be the youngest Briton to have scaled Everest from both sides - and to have raised funds to support the work of Cancer Research UK.

"Now, we'll focus on achieving a safe descent from the top of the world."

The Tiso employee was sponsored and supported by the outdoor company during the challenge.

Chris Tiso, Tiso Group chief executive, said: "Mollie Hughes is an inspirational young woman.

"All at Tiso Group are very proud that she has reached the summit after a long and difficult climb and entered her name in the Everest record books. It is a phenomenal achievement.

"Of course, Mollie and Jon now face an equally daunting descent.

"All involved with the Tiso Return to Mount Everest 2017 Expedition wish them a safe return to base camp and look forward to welcoming Mollie home in early June."