The snow has caused problems in southern Germany and Austria where many of the main roads and certain Alpine railways have been blocked by more than a metre of snow which has fallen since January 1.

The death of a teenager in Austria who was caught in an avalanche while skiing with his family on Wednesday has led to renewed warnings for skiers to stick to marked out pistes when skiing.

But it has also meant a reprieve for ski resorts in the afflicted region after a start to the year which saw little snowfall and led to warnings about the dangers of skiing on icy pistes.

The Ski Club of Great Britain said the resorts set to benefit the most in the next nine days from snow are all in Austria.

Lech is set to receive 298cm, Zurs 291cm and Warth Schrocken 282cm.

It predicted another metre of snow was set to fall yesterday and today before high pressure led to improved conditions over the weekend.

The east of Switzerland has also seen a good amount of snow while those in the west have not been so lucky.

However, the Ski Club’s website warns the situation is markedly different in France, adding: "The French Alps remains disappointingly bereft of snowfall, instead giving hard packed and icy slopes on piste, and solid, challenging off-piste.

"This has also seen far less substantial snowpacks than were seen last season (although bear in mind that it was an exceptional year)."

Italy is also facing an issue with a lack of snow it adds, while Andorra has not seen a single snowflake in three weeks now.