Filling the sky with a mass of colour, these extraordinary pictures show hundreds of balloons taking off during a new world record attempt.

A total of 408 hot air balloons took off from a former Nato base in Chambley, France, in the hope of setting a new record for a mass take-off.

The balloonists are taking part in the Lorraine Mondial international hot air balloon festival, which is held at the Chambley-Bussieres Aerodrome.

They were attempting to beat the previous record, which was only set on Saturday at the same festival when 343 balloons successfully took to the air.

This broke the previous record of 329 balloons, set in 2009.

The popular festival has been taking place in France since 1989 and attracts balloonists from around the world.

Previous record attempts at the festival have been hampered by bad weather. In 2011, hundreds of balloonists had to postpone their attempt while poor conditions cleared.

Hot air balloon festivals are held annually around the world every year.