The deepest snow reported on European ski slopes has reached the three metres (10 feet) mark on the Pic Blanc slopes above Alpe d'Huez. The resort is pictured above on Monday morning, 16th January.
In a sign of a major weather shift, overnight lows of -30C were recorded at the resort's highest slopes at Pic Blanc with winds reaching 80kph (50 mph), the avalanche danger across the western alps is widely at level 3 on the scale to 5 or "considerable". Studies have shown this can be the most dangerous level as more skiers tend to 'risk it' when they wouldn't at levels 4 or 5.
Temperatures have dipped below freezing down to low levels in the valley floor too and are expected to stay below freezing day and night for at least the next week as son falls across the Alps and Pyrenees.
The change will be a huge relief for many low-lying results still struggling with warm weather that has plagued Europe over the past month, causing snow cover issues below about 1800m. The latest snow stats show that after many received fresh snowfall at the start of last week, bases have dropped 5-10cm below 1800m at many resorts over the weekend as another warm front moved through, while rising another 10-20cm on average above 2000m.
Heavy snowfall to low elevations is forecast for the next 48-72 hours however.
Among the other big winners of the last seven days are La Rosiere which reports 70cm more snow lying on its highest slopes than seven days ago although strong winds have currently closed its cross-border connection to La Thuile. The Grand Massif area around Flaine has 45cm more snow up high than a week ago and both the 3 Valleys and 4 Valleys are around 90% open now, the most terrain of the season so far.