Half of French Ski Pistes Closed

Half of French ski pistes are closed, reports NOS, with lower resorts worst affected.

In the middle of December it was cold, and the season started well. Since then, temperatures have gone up and it has rained lower down. The snow has melted in some places.

The Pyrenees is one area that is suffering. Austria, Germany and Italy are also affected.

The weather in the Alps is spring-like, and for the moment cold weather and snow is not forecast.

This is not a one-off. Due to global heating the average temperature in ski resorts is going up, and so there is less snow and the ski season gets shorter.

Lack of snow causes problems for businesses because tourists stay away. Staff have to be sent home.

In some resorts, the Christmas holidays account for 25% of the year's income. 120,000 people work in French ski resorts.

Artificial snow is part of the answer, but it uses a lot of energy and costs money to produce.

As the highest resort in Europe, Val Thorens is better-placed to deal with warm temperatures than other ski resorts.