CERVINIA - Ten thousand tourists were blocked overnight in the Alpine resort town on Friday after two metres of snow fell in 24 hours due to Storm Eleanor.

 The highway will briefly be opened today in order to evacuate the tourists after being given the go-ahead by the Avalanche commission.  Authorities have previously closed the main Valtournenche regional highway amid avalanche alert, much of the area is reportedly is on 4 out of 5 on the avalanche scale. Access to the Breuil-Cervinia road is open from midday, after the clearing of residual snow.

 Civil protection authorities advise holidaymakers to stay indoors because of danger of landslides and avalanches from mountains in the area of the resort in the French-speaking region of Valle d'Aosta.

 The weather today, reaching highs of 4 degrees, is a promising opportunity to free the tourists before the weather goes back in the minuses.

 An effort has been made to recover the bodies of a 45-year-old German skier and her 11 year-old daughter that were killed by an avalanche after venturing off piste at Valvelnosta in the Bolzano province.

 Tragedies are not uncommon in the region, this time last year saw 29 people lose their life in an avalanche on a mountain called Gran Sasso d’Italia in the province of Pescari. 

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