A Scots mountaineer who lost his limbs and his best friend to the mountains has gone on to become the first quadruple amputee to reach the summit of the Matterhorn.

Jamie Andrew, whose friend lost his life when the pair were trapped on the French Alps 17 years ago, conquered his disability to reach the iconic peak.

Jamie, 47, lost his hands and feet to frostbite after being forced to spend five nights on the storm-bound icy summit of Les Droites in 1999.

He suffered from hypothermia and frostbite, but survived and had to have his hands and feet amputated.

His friend, Jamie Fisher, sadly lost his life.

After losing his limbs, Jamie, who lives in Edinburgh. had to learn to walk again and eventually took up skiing and long-distance running before returning to his first passion - mountaineering.

The experienced climber reached the peak of the 4,478-metre-tall Swiss mountain on August 3.

The claim couldn't be verified but was backed by the warden of the Hoernli Hut base camp, who said he knew of nobody else who had achieved the feat.

"Climbing the Matterhorn is a dream come true," Jamie says.

"When I tried the first time in 2013 it was just so hard and I reached 4200m before turning back.

"I thought then that I would never do it, but I persevered, I trained hard, I worked on developing new techniques for climbing without hands and feet, and I waited patiently for the conditions to be right."

With the help of robust prostheses and specially adapted poles, Jamie was able to ascend much of the way toward the peak.

When he needed to climb, Jamie said he used what remains of his arms to hold onto the rope.

He took almost 13 hours to reach the summit and return to the base camp - about five hours longer than most climbers.

"The climb was really exciting," he says. "It was absolutely at my limit and I knew that bad weather was coming so it was important that we move fast in order to be off the mountain before the storms."

"In the end I was delighted with our progress and we made the summit in really good time," adds Jamie.

"It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life."