A man has fallen to his death while climbing Ben Nevis, the UK's tallest mountain.

A rescue helicopter was scrambled after the climber fell from the north face of the mountain at 6pm on Friday.

Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team reached the area at 2am on Saturday, but the man, who was climbing with another person, had died of his injuries.

The climber, who was in his 50s, has not been identified.

A spokesman for Lochaber MRT said: "This proved to be one of the most difficult and technical rescues we have ever been involved in.

"The rescue involved a 600 metre lower down the route, the longest climb in the UK, to get one of the climbers who was stuck on belay.

"This was a very technical exercise - locating the precise location of the casualty in cloud and in the dark on a huge face on very dangerous terrain.

"The summit team, supported by RAF Mountain Rescue Team, located the surviving climber and lowered him to the base of Observatory Gully and walked out to a point where R951 could bring him back to Fort William.

"The second climber unfortunately had died from his injuries and another team had to climb up from base to locate the casualty and then lower him down route and down to where he could be recovered to Fort William by the R951 rescue helicopter."

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "The emergency services were alerted to the incident by the man's climbing companion, who was uninjured, at around 6pm on Friday.

"Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team, assisted by the RAF Mountain Rescue Team, attended the scene with rescue helicopter R951 to uplift the men from the hill around 2am on Saturday.

"Sadly the casualty, who was in his fifties and from outwith the area, died as a result of his injuries."