At least 11 dead as avalanches strike multiple Alpine sites in Italy and France

Snow avalanches between February 7 and 8 across the Alpine regions of Italy and France resulted in at least 11 fatalities, according to the European Commission’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC).

In Italy, multiple avalanche incidents were reported in Trentino–Alto Adige and Lombardy. Reuters confirmed that at least three off-piste skiers were killed on February 7 in separate avalanches in northern Italy. Italian Alpine rescue services conducted several emergency operations during the period and urged caution in backcountry terrain due to unstable snow conditions.

Italian authorities attributed the incidents to fresh snowfall combined with wind redistribution, which created unstable slabs on steep slopes. Rescue officials warned that even small additional loads could trigger avalanches in affected sectors of the Italian Alps.

In France, at least two fatalities were confirmed near Saint-Véran in the Hautes-Alpes department after a large avalanche struck high-elevation terrain. French mountain rescue teams responded to the incident during a period of heightened avalanche risk in several Alpine massifs.

Media reports indicated that parts of the French Alps were under high to very high avalanche danger ratings at the time of the incidents. Some ski areas restricted access to exposed sectors as a precautionary measure.

The avalanche cycle occurred during mid-winter conditions typical for early February in the Alps, when snowpack stratification and persistent weak layers can increase instability following new snowfall. February is historically among the months with frequent avalanche activity across the Alpine arc due to accumulated seasonal snow and recurrent winter storm systems.

As of February 10, the ERCC reported that no additional severe weather systems were forecast for south-eastern France or northern and north-eastern Italy over the subsequent 48 hours. Authorities continued to advise caution in unpatrolled or off-piste terrain.

References:

¹ Italy, France – Snow avalanches – ECHO – February 10, 2026

Reet Kaur

I’m a science journalist and researcher at The Watchers, contributing to the Epicenter edition, where I cover peer-reviewed scientific research and emerging discoveries across Earth and space sciences. With a background in astronomy and a passion for environmental science, I’ve worked in shark and coral conservation in Fiji, conducting reef and shark-behavior research, contributing to mangrove restoration, and earning PADI Open Water and Coral Reef Certifications. I bring a blend of scientific rigor and storytelling to illuminate the discoveries shaping our planet and beyond.

• Reet Kaur

  Green Lake, Hawaii’s largest freshwater lake, was gone by the afternoon of June 2, 2018, after lava from Kilauea filled its basin. The water was about 20 feet deep, not the 200 feet often claimed.
• Reet Kaur

  Flying glass cut a teacher in Russia but none of her 44 pupils, because when a meteor flashed across the sky in 2013, she told them to get under their desks
• Reet Kaur

  A South Dakota man put the widest and heaviest hailstone on US record in his freezer, and a power cut melted part of it before NOAA measured it at 8 inches across and nearly 2 pounds in 2010
• Reet Kaur

  Black kites and brown falcons in northern Australia have been seen snatching smoldering sticks from wildfires, flying them into unburned grass and dropping them, starting new fires that send lizards, rodents and insects running straight toward the waiting birds