A 15-year-old boy rescued two men who had fallen from an inflatable toy boat off the Isle of Skye by sailing his own vessel to save them, beating the lifeboat service to the scene.

Archie Law beat a volunteer crew of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to the rescue on Saturday evening after the UK coastguard received reports of two males in difficulty in the water off Broadford Bay around 9pm.

The RNLI launched a lifeboat from its Kyle of Lochalsh station within 10 minutes of the emergency calls and rushed towards the last known location of the two men, who had been seen on what rescuers described as a toy blow-up inflatable boat.

On the way there, the crew were told that Archie, who lives locally, had spotted the men in distress and had gone out on his own boat to help them.

The crew then discovered he had already managed to rescue both men and had taken them back to shore safely.

After establishing that everyone affected by the incident was safe and there were no injuries, the lifeboat then returned to station to be cleaned, refuelled and made ready for service.

Speaking to Radio Skye, Archie said he has noticed from inside his house that the men had got into trouble. “I could see them from my window and they were paddling in circles out in the bay, drifting further away,” he said.

“I made a decision to go and check if they were OK. As I got closer I could see it was a small kids’ dinghy.

“They seemed very cold and tired and thankful I had spotted them. I got them back to the wee pier and they were met with towels and warm clothes.”

The helm at Kyle RNLI, Andrew MacDonald, praised the teenager for his quick thinking. He said it was thanks to Archie’s decisiveness that a far more serious situation had been averted.

“We’d like to remind people that blow-up inflatable toys should be kept for use in swimming pools and not open water, and to always ensure that you have lifejackets on and a means of communicating to the emergency services if you get into any difficulty,” he said.

A record-breaking heatwave is expected across the UK this week. During a hot spell in May, at least 15 people are known to have died after getting into trouble in open water.

Even during hot weather, the sea remains cold enough to trigger cold water shock, which can cause uncontrollable gasping and increased heart rate, potentially leading to panic and drowning.

RNLI’s water safety manager, Ross Macleod, said: “Anyone who finds themselves in danger in the water should fight the panic instinct and ‘float to live’ – try to relax and float on their back, with head tilted back, gently moving their hands and legs to help them stay afloat. This buys valuable time to get your breathing back under control, before then calling for help or swimming to safety.”