The slopes in the Alps have been looking rather shabby of late. Some resorts have only the thinnest of ribbons of gun blown snow on an otherwise muddy hill and pistes covered in stones. Off piste has been a great place to trash the base of your board with rocks lurking below a shallow wind blown layer.

Whilst Austria has had the best snow, Italy has been faring particularly badly. There have even been reports and subsequent police investigations into people "stealing" snow from glacial areas to sell to Italian resorts by the lorry load.

But things, as they say, they are a-changing. We had reports yesterday that it's started snowing in Chamonix and there were pictures to prove it. Check out the Snow-Forecast 7 day forecast and you'll see there's between 50 and 100cm forecast for the majority of the Alpine resorts, with Italy getting even more.

This snow is certainly welcome and should stay around for a good few weeks. Even if there isn't any more, the half term week should still hold good snow for anybody brave enough to venture to continental Europe at that time. Phew!

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