Mr Hadow reached his destination on Monday

His food is running out, his batteries are low and bad weather has made it impossible for the plane that will carry him to safety to take off.

The last time his wife, Mary, spoke to her 41-year-old husband was on Monday when he called to say he had reached his goal.

Speaking from their home near Hexworthy, Dartmoor, in Devon, she said he was experiencing a tough situation.

"He is definitely having a pretty horrid time."

Since he achieved his goal, Mr Hadow has been conserving his satellite phone to "talk down" the aircraft which will airlift him out when weather permits.

"He has sensible food remaining until Saturday, then bits and pieces to keep him going until Wednesday," said Mrs Hadow.

The explorer's lifeline aircraft is due to take off, when weather permits, from Eureka weather station on Ellesmere Island.

The explorer, who has had no human contact for 66 days, has prepared a landing strip on the ice using a flare and his remaining ski .

He lost the other after falling through thin ice on 30 April.

Mrs Hadow and their children Wilf, four, and one-year-old Freya - both named after explorers - are looking forward to a reunion with him.

She called her husband "invincible" after his success, in which he hauled a 330lb sledge of food and equipment over constantly-moving, cracking sea ice.