British teenager disappears in Tenerife after desperately calling friends to say he was 'in the middle of nowhere' after a night out

• Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle Lancs., went missing in a national park on Monday

Family and friends of a British teenager who went missing after getting lost in a Tenerife national park yesterday said they “have never been more worried”.

Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, traveled to the Canary Islands for the 'New Rave Generation' (NRG) music festival last weekend with his girlfriend Lucy and another friend last week.

But the 19-year-old was reported missing yesterday after deciding to stay with people he had met on Sunday evening.

Jay was last heard from early Monday morning when he called Lucy to tell her he was trying to walk home from the apartment, having been unable to catch a bus.

Lucy recounted how a confused Jay told her his phone battery was at 1 percent, that he needed to drink water and that he “didn't know where he was”.

His phone then went off around 8:50 a.m., his last known location being recorded in the “Rural de Teno” park, a mountainous area popular with hikers but very exposed and far from densely populated centers.

Lucy is now leading a frantic search effort, with Jay's mother Debbie and brother Zak flying to join her.

Lucy and Jay's family are now afraid for his life and have launched a desperate rescue operation.

The last known location recorded by his phone appeared to put the teenager near the PR-TF51 hiking trail, several hundred meters above the small village of Masca, south of Tenerife.

But no hikers reported sightings of the teen.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News about Jay's disappearance, a frightened Lucy said: 'He went out for a night out, he went to a friend's house, someone he met on holiday.

“One of the people he met rented a car to get out of here, so he drove them back to his apartment and Jay drove there without realizing how far it was.

“He ended up in the middle of nowhere. Jay obviously thought he could go home from there.

“But in the morning he went for a walk, using his maps on his phone and found himself in the middle of the mountains with nothing around.

“He called me around 8 a.m. to tell me his phone was on 1 percent mode, he said 'I don't know where I am, I need a drink and my phone is about to die out'.

Temperatures in the south of Tenerife peaked at 26 degrees Celsius yesterday.

Lucy said she was frantically searching for her friend on the island, after making several reports to local police in Tenerife and contacting the British embassy.

Police reportedly sent a mountain rescue team to the area yesterday, but have yet to find any trace of the missing teenager.

Lucy added that she spoke to the people Jay was staying with on Sunday night.

She said the teen left their apartment around 8 a.m. Monday morning to “catch a bus,” but gave no further information.

“I have never been so worried in my life. I was there just yesterday and a lovely lady messaged me on Facebook and said she had hired a car and would take me there,” Lucy added.

“We were there all day yesterday, driving around looking everywhere, looking in every nook and cranny.”

Jay was last seen wearing a white t-shirt with shorts and sneakers. He also allegedly carried a black bag.

An FCDO spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We are supporting the family of a British man missing in Spain and are in contact with the local authorities.'