Three skiers, reportedly including two British nationals, died on Friday after being caught in an avalanche that surprised holidaymakers at a popular European ski resort. The skiers were killed at the plush Val-d'Isere ski resort in France, and it is understood they were swept away in a violent snowslide in an off-piste section. Two UK nationals sadly died, alongside a French citizen, an official said.

Another Brit was injured in the incident, the official also said. The public prosecutor of Albertville, Benoît Bachelet, told Le Monde: "One of the deceased victims, a French national, was skiing alone in that area. The two other deceased and the injured person are British nationals. They belonged to a group of five skiers accompanied by an instructor. The instructor is unharmed."

The Express has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.

A local authority issued a message earlier today about the state of the snow in the area, advising against going off-piste. The message read: "The heavy precipitation of the last few hours has led to accumulations of 60 cm to 1 metre of snow in the Savoyard massifs. The return of milder weather this Friday morning could encourage some mountain users to head out.

"The orange alert ended this morning, downgraded to yellow level. However, almost all of the Savoyard massifs are classified at a high avalanche risk of 4/5 by Météo France.

"In this context and following these unprecedented snowfall amounts, the Prefect of Savoie formally advises against off-piste activities, ski touring and snowshoeing. They urge mountain users to strictly follow the instructions provided by professionals and the ski patrol services."

Last month, a British skier was killed by an avalanche in the French Alps. The man, believed to be in his 50s, was skiing off-piste at the La Plagne resort in south-eastern France, the resort said in a statement.

Rescue teams received an avalanche alert at 1.57pm and immediately went to the site, the resort said at the time. A team of around 52 people, including medics, ski school instructors and a helicopter-deployed piste dog, were called in.

The man was found after 50 minutes of searching under 2.5 metres of snow, the resort said. He was with a group when the avalanche struck, but was not equipped with an avalanche transceiver and was not with a professional instructor, it added.