It's snowing in England... but not in the Alps

PA

At last! The first snow of winter has fallen in England - and there's more on the way this weekend, say forecasters.

After having the warmest November on record, Holidaymakers and locals in the Lake District were surprised by the sudden snowfall, while in the South Tyne Valley, a blizzard hailed the first blanket of snow.

A severe weather warning for Sunday and Monday has been issued by the Met Office for northern Scotland, and snow is also expected in the Pennines and Snowdonia in Wales.

A Met Office spokesman said: "Winter has finally arrived. It's going to be quite changeable throughout the coming month, with bursts of cold and mild weather. Temperatures across the UK are largely going to be below the average in the coming days. We've got some colder weather coming, particularly for the back end of the weekend."

All of which is more than you can say for the Alps, where ski resorts are still devoid of white stuff.

According to local reports, the mountains have had the worst start to the winter season for 147 years, with only one third of resorts in France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy having enough snow to ski.

Val d'Isere, December 2011/PA

The World Cup Alpine races, which were due to take place in the French resort of Val d'Isere, has also been cancelled.

The hotter than usual weather is posing such problems that a number of ski resorts have had to postpone the beginning of the ski season.

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