Snow Patrol have been nominated for three Brit awards

The quintet are nominated for Best British Group, Best British Album and Best Single for the song Chasing Cars.

The awards ceremony, hosted by comedian Russell Brand, will be held at Earls Court in London on 14 February.

Snow Patrol were formed in 1994 at Dundee University by friends Gary Lightbody and Mark McClelland, both from Northern Ireland.

They started off as Shrug, then became Polar Bear.

They have produced four albums, but only the last two have found mainstream success.

After 1998's Songs For Polar Bears and 2001's When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up they were dropped by label Jeepster.

However, spearheaded by the single Run, 2003's Final Straw peaked at number three in the charts and produced four top 40 singles in the UK.

But it is Eyes Open which has seen them achieve international success, with chart success in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand as well as US, Australia, Canada and Germany.

The band offered support to murder victim Lisa Dorrian's family last year

They have also achieved the milestone of having their songs used on US TV shows, most notably Chasing Cars grabbing a Grammy nomination after featuring in the season finale of the hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy.

In August, the band wore "blue ribbons of hope" for missing murder victim Lisa Dorrian from Bangor - Gary Lightbody's home town - during the Vital rock music event in Belfast's Botanic Gardens.

They will face competition from the likes of The Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight and Muze in the Brits.