Record amount of snow falling across the Alps

It’s hard to believe that just a couple of weeks ago there was a distinct lack of snow across the Alps. After a record breaking November (the warmest, apparently, for fifty years), snow finally hit in early December.

And once it started it just kept going. We haven’t seen continuous snowfall like this for a decade. The snow-rain limit did yoyo up and down for most of last week. Now we’ve seen a distinct drop in temperatures, snow is falling at lower levels, both in resorts and down on the plains.

The snow level at  Bochard, part of the Grands Montets domaine, is reported to be 325cm. And in resorts such as Val d’Isere the snow is banked over 1.5 metres deep at the side of the streets. In fact reports suggest that Val d’Isere and Tignes have already enjoyed more snow this month than in any year since 1981, with more records set to be broken if the snow continues.

The unrelenting snow and storms have caused problems. Some chalets in Verbier were evacuated on Friday and in Courchevel the World Cup Ski Racing was postponed the following day due to too much snow. After letting up a little over the last couple of days snowfall has intensified this morning, causing inevitable delays on the roads.

However, the general feeling in ski resorts across the Alps is that all our Christmases have come at once. Any skiers heading here for their holidays are in for a real treat.

What you say - tell us what you're thinking