The search for the missing TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley has resumed on the Greek island of Symi, two days after he went missing.
Local police confirmed at about 7am on Friday that officers were scouring the island after pausing the search-and-rescue operation on Thursday night.
Police and firefighters have been using drones to try to locate Mosley, 67, who has not been seen since setting off on a walk to the centre of the island, and a helicopter was deployed on Thursday to assist the search.
More officers will join the rescue operation on Symi, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain about 25 miles north of Rhodes.
Local people, a helicopter from Rhodes and Greek officers, along with police drafted in from outside the island, were searching the Pedi area and its surroundings on Friday morning, the mayor’s office said.
The area where Mosley, a father of four, went missing is experiencing hot weather, which is forecast to reach 36C on Friday, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service. A yellow weather warning for high temperatures is also in force in Rhodes and surrounding islands, including Symi.
The rescue operation is said to be focusing on the Pedi area of the island after a woman reported seeing Mosley, who is known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, there on Wednesday.
The mayor of Symi, Eleftherios Papakalodoukas, said firefighters had told him they believed it was “impossible” Mosley was still there. “It is a very small, controlled area, full of people. So, if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now,” he told the BBC.
A friend of the person Mosley was staying with on the island said she was struggling to understand how anyone could get lost.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drive programme, she said: “It’s a road that sort of heads over the mountain side but it’s been recently widened and there is only one route, so it’s not possible to lose your way.
“So, it is probably a 20-minute walk down the side of the mountain, but it’s not overly rugged or something that would be seen to be too dangerous, it’s something that tourists do every day in the summer. I’m having trouble understanding how you could get lost.”
A local Facebook group said Mosley had arrived on the island on Tuesday with his wife, Clare Bailey Mosley, who is also a doctor, author and health columnist. He went for a walk from Saint Nikolas Beach at about 1.30pm Greek time on Wednesday.
The Greek police spokesperson Constantina Dimoglidou told the Daily Mail: “He may have slipped, tripped, fallen, even been bitten by a snake, remaining injured somewhere.” He added: “Every potential scenario is open and being investigated.”
A Foreign Office spokespersonsaid: “We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Mosley is a columnist for the Daily Mail and has made a number of films about diet and exercise. The broadcaster fronted the Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? and was part of the BBC series Trust Me, I’m a Doctor.