A drone search for a couple missing on Ben Nevis has been called off.

Rachel Slater, 24, and Tim Newton, 27, failed to return from a trip to the mountain on February 14.

A major search was organised but efforts have been hampered by hazardous weather and a high risk of avalanches.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team joined forces with an Edinburgh-based firm to carry out a search using drones on Thursday.

The couple were not found but the trial is understood to have helped rule out a number of areas in difficult conditions.

It was one of the first time drones have been used in a mountain rescue operation in Scotland.

Lochaber MRT has appealed to climbers who were on Ben Nevis at the same time as the couple to contact them on Facebook.

Team members were diverted from the search on Wednesday to rescue a climber suffering chest pains west of Fort William. The climber was airlifted off the mountain and taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

Mr Newton was a member of Hinckley Mountaineering Club in Leicestershire before moving away to university.

Ms Slater is a graduate of Manchester University and works as an environmental consultant near Bradford, West Yorkshire. She previously lived and climbed in Canada, where her parents still live.

Their families have praised the overwhelming response from members of the public and the climbing community.