Dr Michael Mosley search hit by extreme alert as police deploy drones

The Greek island where TV doctor Michael Mosley has gone missing has been hit with an extreme weather alert.

The 67-year-old vanished during a hike on the island of Symi on Wednesday. He left around 1.30pm yesterday and his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, 62, raised the alarm when he didn't return by 7.30pm.

Local police confirmed at around 7am today, Friday, that officers are scouring the island following them pausing the search-and-rescue operation on Thursday night.

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Emergency services have been using drones to try and locate Dr Mosley, who was reported to have vanished after setting off on a walk to the centre of the island on Wednesday, and a helicopter was deployed on Thursday to assist the search.

More officers will join the search-and-rescue operation on Symi, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain and is about 25 miles north of Rhodes. Local people from Symi, a helicopter from Rhodes and Greek officers, along with police drafted in from outside the island, are searching the Pedi area and surroundings on Friday morning, the mayor's office said.

An extreme weather alert is now in place across Symi, with temperatures predicted to reach a sweltering 36C today, according to the Hellenic National Meteorological Service.

A statement from Greek police, which has been translated, said officers were informed about the "disappearance of the 67-year-old British national on the island" on Wednesday. Police then asked for assistance from the Greek fire service, with six firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team arriving from Rhodes at about 2pm (12pm BST) on Thursday.

The rescue operation is said to be focusing on the Pedi area of the island after a woman reported seeing Dr Mosley, known for popularising the 5:2 diet and for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, there on Wednesday.

Mayor of Symi Eleftherios Papakalodoukas said firefighters had told him they believed it was "impossible" Dr Mosley was still there. He told the BBC: "It is a very small, controlled area, full of people. So, if something happened to him there, we would have found him by now."

A woman who gave her name only as Irini, and who works at Kamares coffee shop on Pedi Beach, told the PA news agency on Thursday: "They came, the police, with the coast police and firemen, and the rescue team, to carry out the investigation, but I don't think that anything has been found yet."

Another woman in the area said Dr Mosley's disappearance was "strange" as the path he was thought to be on is "clear". She said: "It's a quiet place...if you see the map of the area it's a clear path, it's nothing dangerous, many people go every day, every few minutes, that's the reason it's very strange because it's a clear path."

A friend of the person Dr Mosley was staying with said she was struggling to understand how anyone could get lost on the part of the island he was believed to be on.

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 Dr Mosley went for a walk from Saint Nikolas Beach at about 1.30pm Greek time on Wednesday. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities."

Dr Mosley is known for being a columnist for the Daily Mail and has made a number of films about diet and exercise. The broadcaster has also fronted the Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? and was part of the BBC series Trust Me, I'm A Doctor.

Dr Mosley has four children with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley, also a doctor, author and health columnist, who wrote the recipe book Fast 800 Easy. The couple, who have hosted theatre show tours together, recently attended the Hay Festival, where Dr Mosley presented a special edition of his Radio 4 series and podcast Just One Thing.

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