It may be the first day of meteorological autumn (and still three weeks of astronomical summer to run) but it is snowing for the second weekend in a row in the Austrian Alps.
The Stubai glacier, due to open for the 18-19 season in the next few weeks, posted pictures of fresh snow again this morning (above), a week after reporting similar falls last Saturday.
The Hintertux glacier, which is open year round and reported 30cm of snowfall last weekend with resulting summer powder days at the start of this week, also posted video of snow falling, although there did not seem to be much fresh accumulation there so far.
There are currently six ski areas open for snowsports – two each in the Austrian, Italian and Swiss Alps.
Another eight areas are set to open through September so long as snow conditions are good – most in Austria bit also Val Senales in Italy and on the last weekend of the month, Tignes in France.
Snow in Autumn is not unusual on high slopes in the Alps but the size of the snowfalls and them arriving in august and at the very start of September is greater and earlier than in recent years.