It has arrived too late for most resorts in the Alps, but heavy snowfall is blanketing much of the region this weekend with Austria and Switzerland reporting the biggest accumulations so far.
Webcam images show January like conditions with powdery pistes and Alpine rooftops once again covered with up to 20cm of snow – good news for late season skiers, probably less so for many of the locals who have moved on to mountain biking and gardening mode.
Of the still open ski centres, the Aletsch Arena in Switzerland (pictured above this morning) is one of the areas reporting the biggest snowfalls with 20cm in the last 24 hours. Kuhtai in Austria has reported a similar accumulation.
Of the bigger resorts, the Diablerets glacier near Gstaad, Chamonix and Crans Montana each report 12-15cm and there's been 10cm of fresh snow so far at year-round Zermatt.
Most of the other still open areas (many of them on their last day of the 2013-14 ski season today) report 3-10cm of fresh snow so far.