Nepal is sending a group of expert climbers to remeasure the height of Mount Everest today amid concerns that the devastating 2015 earthquake in the country caused the peak to shrink.

It is the first time the country has sent its own government-appointed team to conduct a survey of the world's highest mountain.

Officially, Everest stands at 29,029ft – but this figure was calculated by an Indian team back in 1954. Since then its actual height has been widely debated.

China believes the mountain could be over ten feet shorter than the 1954 measurement while the US National Geographic Society believes it is actually over five foot higher.

The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Nepal in April 2015 cast further doubt on the Indian reading.