British woman killed in avalanche in French Alps

A British woman has been killed in an avalanche while walking in the French Alps.

The woman, who is reported to be 45 years old, was airlifted off Mont Blanc’s Argentiere Glacier by mountain rescuers but died of her injuries.

Colonel Bertrand Host, of the mountain rescue gendarmerie in Chamonix, said his team was called to the glacier at about 5pm local time on Saturday.

“When we arrived we had to rescue this person but she was in a bad situation and we evacuated her from the valley. She was taken charge by rescuers and two dogs but we didn’t manage to reanimate her,” he told the PA news agency.

Colonel Host said around 80 people die on the Mont Blanc massif each year.

An investigation into the woman’s death has been opened by the coroner of Chamonix.

A spokesperson from the Foreign Office said it was assisting the family of a British woman who died in France.

The Alps typically attract thousands of skiers in winter but some resorts have been left without snow due to record-high temperatures for this time of year.

At least eight countries experienced their highest-ever January temperatures on New Year’s Day, including Delemont in Switzerland, which saw its daily average hit 18.1C (nearly 65F) on 1 January – more than 2C higher than the previous record.

The increased temperatures have seen rain falling instead of snow in some areas, leaving dozens of ski runs closed and some resorts closed entirely just weeks after the season started.

Melting snow can make avalanches more likely while global heating caused by the climate crisis has caused many of the world’s glaciers to shrink at record rate, destabilising the mountains’ rock because of melting permafrost.