Fears are growing for the safety of a number of British trekkers who have not contacted their families since a series of deadly blizzards and avalanches in Nepal.
The Foreign Office has confirmed it has spoken to concerned families who have not heard from their relatives since the unseasonably bad weather caused at least 29 deaths earlier this week.
A spokeswoman said they had been in close touch with authorities in Nepal but had not been informed of any British casualties.
More than 230 trekkers - most of them foreigners - have been rescued since Wednesday and search teams continue to scour the Annapurna range looking for more survivors, who may be sheltering in lodges and huts.
An unofficial list of trekkers suggests more than a dozen Britons may have been in the area at the time of the storms, although some of them have since been confirmed as safe or rescued.
Officials believe some people may be stranded in waist-deep snow in remote locations where mobile phone signal is poor.
The skies were clear at the start of the week, said Gombu Sherpa, who was guiding a group of Germans near the popular trekking circuit. But that changed suddenly when the snow blew in.
"We could hardly see anyone, even within a couple of feet. The wind was blowing snow and visibility was almost zero," he said, adding many people lost their way in the storm, but that everyone in his group survived.
One of his assistants, who was behind the group when the storm hit, was missing for an entire night, lost in the blizzard.
"We found him the next morning wandering in the snow. It is a miracle that he is alive," he said.
Meanwhile, a British survivor has told how he escaped the disaster - likely to become the worst trekking and climbing tragedy Nepal has seen.
Paul Sheridan said walkers were left stumbling through "an abyss of nothing" as dense snow left them unable to get their bearings on the slopes of the mountain range in northern Nepal.
Mr Sheridan said that trekkers should have been prevented from going up the mountain, but were "herded to their deaths" by guides who he alleged were not carrying the correct emergency equipment.
The Nepalese government has announced a high level committee with two senior ministers to monitor and co-ordinate rescue efforts.
For two days this week, Nepal was lashed by heavy rain brought by the cyclone that also battered neighbouring India.
The 150-mile (240km) Annapurna circuit offers spectacular views of jagged peaks and Buddhist villages.
It takes almost three weeks to complete and is nicknamed the "apple pie" circuit because of the teahouses lining the route that offer cold beer and home baking.
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