A strong storm in the Swiss Alps is hampering efforts to find a German billionaire who has been missing on the Matterhorn for days.

Karl-Erivan Haub was last seen on Saturday morning as he headed up a lift on the mountain.

Switzerland Missing Billionaire
Anjan Truffer, left, emergency chief for the Zermatt region, and Adriano Favre, right, emergency chief for the Valle d’Aosta region, speak about the rescue operation (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/AP)

The head of the rescue effort, Anjan Truffer, said the bad weather meant teams had not been able to head out on Thursday morning as planned, the dpa news agency reported.

Mr Truffer said rescue crews remain in close contact with Mr Haub’s family.

Switzerland Missing Billionaire
A media conference is briefed about the search for missing German businessman Karl-Erivan Haub (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/AP)

The 58-year-old businessman, heir to the Tengelmann retail empire, was training for a ski mountaineering race when he disappeared.

Rescuers said it is not clear where he went missing and they are searching an area of more than 93 square miles (240 sq km).