¿où est la neige? French ski resorts face absence of snow

It may be the season for heading to the slopes, but in France, ski resorts are facing a lack of snow, which has seen several shut their doors for a week longer than planned.

Both Méribel and Courchevel - of the famous Trois Vallées - will hold open on Saturday 13th December rather than this week, along with an avalanche of other resorts all making the same decision.

Across Europe in Italy, though, conditions are fairer, as Monterosa enjoys 200cm of the white stuff, while Austria also has limited slopes available. Some travel operators have offered refunds to guests who booked early for holidays.

Tourism promoter Atout France told The Telegraph: "The delayed openings should not impact upon the UK market too heavily with most tour operators starting their seasons next weekend. With more snow in the forecast, there's plenty of time for the resorts to morph from green to white in time for the UK ski holiday season proper to get underway."

Another representative for Courchevel added: "S3V [the ski area's lift company] teams are doing their best to ensure articifial snowmaking will be added to the expected snowfall this weekend."

Conditions may not be fair for travellers, but investors have not delayed in hitting the slopes, with Brits taking advantage of the strong pound against the euro.

Julian Walker, Director at Skiingproperty.com, told TheMoveChannel.com in October: "The pound spent most of October 2013 worth between €1.17 and €1.18. Now that, a year later, it’s hovering around the €1.27 mark, a typical €400,000 ski home is circa £24,000 cheaper to a British buyer, thanks purely to the better exchange rate."

Savills' latest Alpine Property Market Property Spotlight also confirmed that there has been a flurry of interest in 2014, with sales volumes up 52 per cent year-on-year.