HEAVY snow and temperatures of -40C have hampered plans to use drones to help in the hunt for missing climber Tom Ballard high in the Himalayas.
A fresh search has been delayed until Saturday for the 30-year-old, who grew up in the Highlands, and his Italian climbing partner, Daniele Nardi.
They last made contact with relatives on Sunday, from an altitude of about 20,500ft (6,250m) on Nanga Parbat.
High altitude drones were due to set off from close to the mountain's base camp and an army helicopter was also ready to search for the pair.
But the low temperatures and high winds of up to 200mph led to a postponement.
Stefano Pontecorvo, the Italian ambassador in Pakistan, tweeted the search was not possible "for a number of reasons including poor weather”.
According to Mr Nardi’s Facebook page, which is being updated by his team, there has also been a dispute over payment for the Pakistani army helicopter.
The search only began on Thursday due to airspace restrictions following escalating tensions between Pakistan and India.
During that search, mountaineer Ali Sadpara, the only person to have scaled the peak in winter, said he spotted a three-person tent "invaded by snow”.
However, it is not known if the tent belonged to the missing climbers.
Mr Sadpara also said the risk of avalanche has made a ground search "almost impossible”.
Mr Ballard's mother, Alison Hargreaves, died on K2 aged 33, months after becoming the first woman to climb Mount Everest unaided.
Nicholas Hobley, of online magazine Planet Mountain, said Mr Ballard - who was born in Derbyshire but brought up in Spean Bridge, near Fort William - was "regarded extremely highly in the climbing world”, adding: "He's an absolutely fantastic climber and someone you would want to have with you on an expedition."
Nanga Parbat has only been climbed in winter once before as it is "extremely dangerous", Mr Hobley said.
Mr Ballard told Scottish Field magazine in 2016: “I grew up in the Great Glen, between Speak Bridge and Fort William…If you think of your body as a sculpture, Scotland shaped me, and the Alps, beginning with the Eiger, put on the finishing flourishes.”
His sister Kate posted a message on Facebook, saying: "Please all believe and trust that they will be OK."
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