Major Snowstorm in the Alps

The Alps have seen one of the biggest snowfalls of the year with resorts reporting up to 1.8 metres (six feet) of snowfall over three days at the start of this week.

The heaviest snowfall was reported in Switzerland but there were also big snowfalls in France, Austria and Northern Italy.

It’s the first major snowstorm for two months in the mountain range, where snow conditions are generally good, but snow levels had been a little below average

Glacier 3000 near Gstaad and Les Diablerets (pictured above on Monday) has reported 157cm (over five feet) of snow and Laax and Meiringen a metre a piece. Many other centres got between 60 and 90cm

The deepest base in Europe has now reached 595cm (18.5 feet) at Engelberg, Andermatt also has over 5 metres lying.

A number of ski areas were closed for several days as the storm blew through, sometimes accompanies by gale force winds. Ski areas are now warning that the avalanche danger is currently high, at levels 4 or 5 in the areas that have seen the most snow.

Most ski areas in Austria and Switzerland are currently open, in Austria only to people living locally.  In France many ski resorts are open but ski lifts are not operating and most slopes ungroomed. Italy has recently entered its third lockdown.