Two British skiers among three dead in French Alps
Waves crash at the Rock of the Virgin (Rocher de la Vierge) in Biarritz, southwestern France on February 12, 2026, as storm Nils hits the area. Accompanied by winds exceeding 160 km/h, Storm Nils swept across several regions of France on February 12, 2026, causing the death of a lorry driver in the Landes and damage, leaving 850,000 homes without electricity, particularly in the southwest.
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An avalanche killed three off-piste skiers, including two
Britons, in the French Alps on Friday, prosecutors said a day after several ski
resorts shut down due to the risk of snowslides.
The avalanche in Val d'Isere swept away six skiers, killing
one French national and the two Britons, prosecutor Benoit Bachelet said.
Emergency services responded quickly but could not prevent
the deaths, a resort official said, noting that all of the victims had
avalanche transceivers.
There have now been at least 25 avalanche deaths in France
this winter season, with the majority occurring since January.
The deaths followed a rare, day-long red alert across the
southeastern Savoie region on Thursday -- a danger level issued only twice
before since the system was introduced 25 years ago.
The warning prompted several resorts to close all or part of
their pistes.
On Friday, the red alert was lifted Friday in Savoie but the
risk level remained high across the Alps, with "very unstable snow
cover" especially above 1,800 (5,900 feet) to 2,000 metres altitude,
according to the Meteo France weather service.
Storm Nils, which passed through France on Thursday, dumped
60-100 centimetres of snow, according to the weather service.
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