Local airline Air Zermatt said that three of the bodies were found on the debris of an avalanche a few hundred meters below where the skis were spotted.

Three of the bodies were found in one high-altitude area, while the two others were discovered higher up on the peak on a patch of snow, according to authorities. The identities of the five skiers, who were believed to be travelling as a group,

Although snow is not uncommon in the Alps in April, the disruption left thousands of homes in the Savoie region of eastern France without power. In neighbouring Switzerland, the Simplon Pass into Italy and the Great St Bernard Tunnel were closed to traffic, while two cantons were badly affected.

The bodies of five skiers have been found on a glacier above the Swiss resort town of Zermatt, authorities said, and another person was killed following an avalanche in a village north of there.

Some of Europe’s top ski resorts, including Zermatt in Switzerland and Val d’Isere in France, were forced to shut as heavy snow raised the avalanche risk across the western Alps. At Montana ...