Early snow bring bookings boom for French ski resorts

Winter's early arrival in France may have provoked weather warnings, but it has had an upside - bookings for skiing holidays have boomed since the first snowfalls on the mountains this month.

"We had two snowfalls last week, which brought us about 10 centimetres at an altitude of 1,600 metres and about 40 centimetres at the top of the domain," Stéphane Henry, head of safety at Les Orres, Hautes-Alpes, told France 3 this week.

Further snow is expected by the end of the week, giving winter resorts hope for a successful high-season period. One independent meteorologist told the broadcaster that it has been 20 years since there was so much snow at the resort in mid-November.

The early snow has prompted ski lovers to book their winter holidays early. The early rush has meant that about 90% of the accommodation for the February winter holiday period in and around Orres is already booked.