by Selina O'Grady and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, London
1 hour ago
Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that a UK search and rescue team would be travelling to Nepal on Sunday night with RAF aircraft being sent on Monday.
A number of Britons have been caught up in Saturday's earthquake and the powerful aftershock felt on Sunday.
At least 17 people have been killed in avalanches on Mount Everest.
Climbers and their guides have been cut off from Everest's devastated base camp, unable to come down because climbing ropes and ladders have been swept away.
Rescuers told the BBC the mountaineers were waiting to be rescued by helicopter but bad weather had hampered efforts.
The exact number of stranded mountaineers is not known but the Nepalese government said more than 50 climbers had been rescued.
The earthquake struck in the midst of the spring season in Nepal, when most of the attempts to climb mountains in the region are made.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said "we would expect there to be several hundred British nationals in Nepal" but there are currently no reports of any killed or injured.
"British embassy staff have helped over 200 British nationals who've presented at the embassy directly," he said.
The Foreign Office (FCO) has released an emergency number +44 (0) 207 008 0000 for people worried about loved ones who may have been in the area at the time.
The exact number of stranded mountaineers is not known but the Nepalese government said more than 50 climbers had been rescued.
The earthquake struck in the midst of the spring season in Nepal, when most of the attempts to climb mountains in the region are made.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said "we would expect there to be several hundred British nationals in Nepal" but there are currently no reports of any killed or injured.
"British embassy staff have helped over 200 British nationals who've presented at the embassy directly," he said.
The Foreign Office (FCO) has released an emergency number +44 (0) 207 008 0000 for people worried about loved ones who may have been in the area at the time.
Alex Schneider and Sam Chappatte, who are safe but cut off at a Mt Everest camp, described seeing an "avalanche coming straight" at them.
Alex Staniforth, 19, from Chester, who is also stranded at camp one, texted via satellite phone on Sunday to say his team will spend another night there because "the weather has drawn in making helicopter entry dangerous".
Tom Elphinstone and Zara Carey, both 26 and from London, had been hiking the Annapurna circuit in western Nepal and were in the town of Tansen when the earthquake hit.
They have told family members of "swaying streets" and being in a building which moved "like a ship" with "plaster falling off the walls".
The Department for International Development has deployed a team of more than 60 search and rescue responders and medical experts to support the relief effort in Nepal.
A DFID-chartered flight is due to leave London on Sunday evening for Kathmandu carrying seven search and rescue crews, four search and rescue dogs, a medical support team and a hazardous materials specialist.
They will take with them more than 11 tonnes of kit, including torches, axes, rope, search cameras, stretchers and tents.
A Foreign Office Rapid Deployment Team to provide further consular assistance for British nationals will also be on board along with experts from leading aid agencies including the British Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières and Map Action, an international disaster mapping charity.
International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: "These are brave men and women who will be doing crucial, life-saving work on behalf of the UK."
Tanya Barron, from Plan International, has told the BBC of the scenes she has encountered while travelling through the more remote areas of the region.
She said that although Kathmandu was in an "area of devastation and massive need" the remote mountainous villages were "almost without any support".
She added: "The government is doing a good job but nevertheless I have just driven past families sitting in the middle of the rubble of their homes trying to make little tarpaulins with small children.
"There was an aftershock of 6.7... which is a pretty big earthquake on a normal day. Many more houses were brought down so now as we travel through the countryside we see thousands of people camping out on hill sides with very little shelter."
Meanwhile, an earthquake consultant working for the UK government says Nepal was unprepared for an earthquake of this scale.
Jon Bennett, from Oxford Development Consultants, had travelled to Nepal two weeks ago on behalf of the UK government, to assess how ready the country was for an earthquake.
He told BBC Radio 5 live: "We knew, when we were looking at the situation out there, that if there was going to be a very large earthquake like this, the level of the preparedness in the country was nowhere near sufficient to cope with the kind of events that were likely to unfold, as indeed has been the case."
1 hour ago
The UK has given £5m to help people affected by the earthquake in Nepal, which has killed at least 2,500 people.
The government said it had released £3m to address immediate needs and £2m would be given to the Red Cross.Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted that a UK search and rescue team would be travelling to Nepal on Sunday night with RAF aircraft being sent on Monday.
A number of Britons have been caught up in Saturday's earthquake and the powerful aftershock felt on Sunday.
At least 17 people have been killed in avalanches on Mount Everest.
Climbers and their guides have been cut off from Everest's devastated base camp, unable to come down because climbing ropes and ladders have been swept away.
Rescuers told the BBC the mountaineers were waiting to be rescued by helicopter but bad weather had hampered efforts.
The exact number of stranded mountaineers is not known but the Nepalese government said more than 50 climbers had been rescued.
The earthquake struck in the midst of the spring season in Nepal, when most of the attempts to climb mountains in the region are made.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said "we would expect there to be several hundred British nationals in Nepal" but there are currently no reports of any killed or injured.
"British embassy staff have helped over 200 British nationals who've presented at the embassy directly," he said.
The Foreign Office (FCO) has released an emergency number +44 (0) 207 008 0000 for people worried about loved ones who may have been in the area at the time.
'Swaying streets'
A British couple on their honeymoon are among a number of Britons caught up in the earthquake and subsequent avalanches in the Everest area.The exact number of stranded mountaineers is not known but the Nepalese government said more than 50 climbers had been rescued.
The earthquake struck in the midst of the spring season in Nepal, when most of the attempts to climb mountains in the region are made.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said "we would expect there to be several hundred British nationals in Nepal" but there are currently no reports of any killed or injured.
"British embassy staff have helped over 200 British nationals who've presented at the embassy directly," he said.
The Foreign Office (FCO) has released an emergency number +44 (0) 207 008 0000 for people worried about loved ones who may have been in the area at the time.
'Swaying streets'
A British couple on their honeymoon are among a number of Britons caught up in the earthquake and subsequent avalanches in the Everest area.Alex Schneider and Sam Chappatte, who are safe but cut off at a Mt Everest camp, described seeing an "avalanche coming straight" at them.
Alex Staniforth, 19, from Chester, who is also stranded at camp one, texted via satellite phone on Sunday to say his team will spend another night there because "the weather has drawn in making helicopter entry dangerous".
Tom Elphinstone and Zara Carey, both 26 and from London, had been hiking the Annapurna circuit in western Nepal and were in the town of Tansen when the earthquake hit.
They have told family members of "swaying streets" and being in a building which moved "like a ship" with "plaster falling off the walls".
The Department for International Development has deployed a team of more than 60 search and rescue responders and medical experts to support the relief effort in Nepal.
A DFID-chartered flight is due to leave London on Sunday evening for Kathmandu carrying seven search and rescue crews, four search and rescue dogs, a medical support team and a hazardous materials specialist.
They will take with them more than 11 tonnes of kit, including torches, axes, rope, search cameras, stretchers and tents.
A Foreign Office Rapid Deployment Team to provide further consular assistance for British nationals will also be on board along with experts from leading aid agencies including the British Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières and Map Action, an international disaster mapping charity.
International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: "These are brave men and women who will be doing crucial, life-saving work on behalf of the UK."
Tanya Barron, from Plan International, has told the BBC of the scenes she has encountered while travelling through the more remote areas of the region.
She said that although Kathmandu was in an "area of devastation and massive need" the remote mountainous villages were "almost without any support".
She added: "The government is doing a good job but nevertheless I have just driven past families sitting in the middle of the rubble of their homes trying to make little tarpaulins with small children.
"There was an aftershock of 6.7... which is a pretty big earthquake on a normal day. Many more houses were brought down so now as we travel through the countryside we see thousands of people camping out on hill sides with very little shelter."
Meanwhile, an earthquake consultant working for the UK government says Nepal was unprepared for an earthquake of this scale.
Jon Bennett, from Oxford Development Consultants, had travelled to Nepal two weeks ago on behalf of the UK government, to assess how ready the country was for an earthquake.
He told BBC Radio 5 live: "We knew, when we were looking at the situation out there, that if there was going to be a very large earthquake like this, the level of the preparedness in the country was nowhere near sufficient to cope with the kind of events that were likely to unfold, as indeed has been the case."
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