Three German skiers dead and one missing after avalanche in Austrian Alps

Three German skiers have been killed, and a fourth is missing, after an avalanche in Austria, as severe weather continued.

The bodies of the men, aged 57, 36 and 32, were recovered on Saturday evening near the ski resort of Lech, a few hours after the wife of one of the group reported them missing.

It is thought that the friends had skied onto a trail that was closed and although they had avalanche protection equipment and deployed airbags, were buried and suffered multiple injuries.

They were found with the help of phone tracking, police said.

The search for the fourth skier, aged 28, had to be called off due to heavy snow and further risk of avalanches, police in Vorarlberg, Austria’s western-most province, said.

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The latest avalanche brings the number of weather-related deaths in parts of Europe this month to at least 24.

Authorities in southern Germany and Austria have been trying to clear snow from roofs and roads but snowfall set in again on Saturday night.

According to German news agency dpa, local authorities in the Bavarian town of Kempten closed 11 sports hall as a precaution because the weight of snow on their roofs was expected to increase.

Trains between the German cities of Munich and Lindau, on Lake Constance near the Austrian border, were also travelling more slowly than usual because of a risk of trees weighed down by snow falling onto the tracks.

On Saturday the Met Office forecast further heavy snow across part of the Alps.

BBC Weather said some areas had seen three times their normal January snowfall and said more red weather and avalanche warnings are in place for Sunday and Monday in Austria and Switzerland, though conditions are expected to improve throughout the week.